Bus owner arrested after Cumilla accident that killed four

The bus lacked valid fitness certificate and was being driven by an unskilled driver, police say

The owner of the bus, which was involved in the three-way accident in Cumilla that killed four people, has been arrested.

Daudkandi Highway Police chief Iqbal Bahar Mojumder confirmed the arrest made following a raid in Dhaka’s Sayedabad at 11pm on Saturday.

The bus owner, identified as 51-year-old Yusuf Majhi, hailed from Babuganj in Barishal. He was sent to jail on Sunday, police said.

The accident occurred on Friday afternoon on the Dhaka-Chattogram Highway at Baniapara. The accident survivors later said the bus driver had a quarrel with them over driving the vehicle slowly to pick up passengers along the way.

The bus named CDM Transport, bearing the numbers Dhaka Metro-B-11-1858, was traveling from Dhaka to Chattogram. Immediately after the argument with the passengers, the driver lost control at Baniapara of Daudkandi Upazila, hit an autorickshaw and a motorcycle, and overturned.

According to officers, the accident was followed by a fire possibly sparked by the fuel tank on the motorcycle. The fire spread and engulfed the bus.

The dead included two motorcycle riders and two passengers of the bus.

Shamsul Alam, the father of one of the motorcycle riders, filed a case following the accident.

Iqbal Bahar said the bus’s fitness certificate had expired and the driver was not skilled enough to drive a passenger bus on the highway.