Man who set motorcycle on fire vows to stop riding after release from police custody

Shawkat Alam Sohel, a man who went viral on social media after setting his motorcycle on fire in Dhaka’s Badda Link Road area, has been released from police custody after 12 hours.

He left the office of the deputy commissioner of Gulshan Division police at around 8:45 pm on Monday.

“I will stop riding motorcycles. The ridesharing firm takes 25 percent of my daily earnings, which is unacceptable. And then the police will sue you if you offer rides independently. I set my motorcycle on fire out of anger,” said Sohel.

The viral video showed a red motorcycle ablaze with Sohel standing next to it. He then proceeded to throw his helmet and a few other things into the blaze.

Locals and two policemen at the scene attempted to douse the fire while Sohel repeatedly said: “Do not come here.”

It has been publicised as an incident of protest to counter “harassment” by traffic police.

Describing the incident to bdnews24.com, Sohel said he had dropped off a passenger in the Gulshan area after leaving home at 8:30 am in the morning with his old TVS motorcycle. As he was speaking to another potential passenger at the Badda Link Road intersection, the police arrived and asked for his papers.

Sohel asked the police to let him go as he was already facing a lawsuit filed against him two weeks ago over illegal parking, but police still attempted to file another case against him for directly offering rides to passengers.   

No case was filed against him, said Faruk Hossain, deputy commissioner of DMP’s media wing. He was called up because the DC of Gulshan Division police wanted to speak to him.

Sohel had “acted on impulse” after a case was filed against him for violating the country’s traffic laws, police said on Monday.

Sohel, a sanitary trader from Keraniganj, registered with ridesharing services 1.5 months ago after falling into a debt of Tk 900,000 due to the coronavirus pandemic. He was supporting his family of five through earnings from the ridesharing work.