Bus driver, conductor beaten to death in Savar

A driver and a conductor of a bus were beaten to death allegedly by some passengers in Savar's Ashulia after an altercation over extra fare ahead of Eid. The incident took place at Dhaka EPZ area on Monday afternoon.

Sohel Rana, 26, driver of Itihash Paribahan bus, and Hridoy, 30, conductor of the bus were declared dead at Sheikh Fazilatunnessa Mujib Memorial KPJ Specialised Hospital in Gazipur in the evening. Sohel is from Gazipur’s Tongi area and Hridoy from Mymensingh’s Fulpur upazila.

Another conductor survived as he fled the scene.

Hridoy's elder brother Atiqur Rahman said, “I got information of my brother’s death at around 4:00pm.  Later I came to know that the bus was charging Tk 100 fare instead of Tk 80 from a trip to Mirpur to Chandra on the occasion of Eid. All the passengers were informed about the extra charge before boarding. One of the passengers refused to give Tk 100 after boarding the bus. At one point of altercation over it, Hridoy told the passenger that he does not need to pay the fare which enraged the latter.”

Atiqur said the passenger threatened to give the bus conductor a lesson when the bus  reached Ashulia thana area. When the bus reached the EPZ area, 20/25 people boarded the bus. As the bus was stuck in a traffic jam, they took Hridoy off the bus and hit him with a brick. They also beat up the driver. Another conductor of the bus fled and returned after a while to take the injured persons to hospital with help from other passengers.

“They’ve killed my brother and another person for a small amount of money. I want their exemplary punishment,” said Hridoy’s brother.

Ashulia police station’s inspector (investigation) Md Masudur Rahman told Prothom Alo that the driver and helper were beaten dead after an altercation over charging extra fare. Legal process will be taken over the incident.