'They said they would sleep in the car, after that they didn't answer any call'
Two people whose bodies recovered from a private car in the hospital parking lot in the capital had traveled from Chatkhil in Noakhali to pick up a child who was undergoing treatment. The car's owner had accompanied them when they left Noakhali, but he later returned to Noakhali by bus.
The two bodies were recovered from a private car in the parking lot of Dr. Sirajul Islam Medical College and Hospital in Mouchak, Dhaka. They had traveled from Chatkhil in Noakhali to pick up a child who was undergoing treatment at the hospital.
When they left Noakhali by car, the owner of the vehicle was with them. However, he later returned to Noakhali by bus. These details were shared with Prothom Alo by the car's owner, Zubair Al Mahmud.
The two deceased were identified as Mohammad Mizan, son of the late Abdul Hakim of Ward 9, Ramnarayanpur Union, Chatkhil upazila, Noakhali, and Zakir Hossain, son of Abu Taher of Khamarbari in Lotkoria village, Khilpara union of the same upazila. Among them, Zakir Hossain was the driver of the private car.
Zubair Al Mahmud, the owner of the private car, said that Zakir and Mizan were friends. Over the phone, Zubair explained that he had traveled to Dhaka on Saturday night to drop off his wife’s elder brother at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport. At that time, both Zakir and his friend Mizan were in the car. Mizan had gone to the hospital to bring back a neighbour's child who was under treatment.
After dropping off his brother-in-law at the airport, they drove to the Malibagh area early Sunday morning. Zakir then helped Zubair board a bus to Noakhali from Malibagh.
"When we parted, Zakir told me that the patient would be discharged around 11:00am, so until then, the two of them would sleep in the car. I tried calling Zakir at around 10:45am but couldn’t reach him. I tried several more times until around 8:00pm, but he never answered," Zubair Al Mahmud quoted Zakir as saying.
Zubair Al Mahmud said that when his calls went unanswered, he checked the car’s location using GPS (Global Positioning System) tracking.
“Every time I tracked it, I saw the car was still in the hospital parking lot,” he said.
“With no other option, I got Mizan’s phone number the next day and tried calling him too. He didn’t answer either. Later, the people of whose patient Mizan and Zakir were supposed to bring also tried calling several times. But there was no way to reach either of them.”
Zubair added that around 2:00pm yesterday, Monday, he received a call from Ramna police station. “The police told me that two bodies were found inside the car and asked me to come to Dhaka immediately. I informed both families and left for Dhaka with them,” he said.
Zubair Al Mahmud also mentioned that Zakir had been driving his car for the past three months.
Speaking to Prothom Alo around 8:30 this morning, he said he was at Ramna police station. The bodies were kept at the Dhaka Medical College morgue, and they were expected to be handed over to the families around 11:00am.
Mobarak Ullah, a neighbour of the deceased Mizan and a member of Ward 9 in Ramnarayanpur Union, Chatkhil, told Prothom Alo that Mizan was the eldest of five siblings—three sisters and two brothers. He made a living operating a dredger (excavation machine) and fish farming. Mizan was unmarried.