Two motorcyclists were killed in separate bus crashes in Habiganj within just two days, raising fresh concerns over reckless driving on highways and busy roads in the district.
One of the victims was a college student, while the other was a BNP leader and a prospective union parishad chairman candidate. Both were residents of Bahubal upazila, deepening grief and concern among locals.
The latest accident took place around 4:30pm on Monday in front of Mohona Community Centre on the Dhaka-Sylhet highway in Bahubal upazila, where former general secretary of Bahubal upazila Jubo Dal and BNP leader Moniruzzaman Khan Faruk, 45, was killed.
Faruk, son of late Ustar Mia of Sahapur village, was also a member of the upazila BNP. He was widely known as a likely chairman candidate for No. 7 Bhadeshwar union in the upcoming local government election.
Police and local sources said Faruk was heading towards Mirpur Bazar on a motorcycle when a Sylhet-bound passenger bus of Sagarika Paribahan hit him, leaving him dead on the spot. The motorcycle was badly damaged in the crash.
Members of Bahubal Model Police Station and Shayestaganj Highway Police recovered the body after receiving information about the accident.
Officer-in-Charge of Bahubal Model Police Station Mohammad Saiful Islam said the body was sent to Habiganj Sadar Hospital morgue for autopsy. The bus involved fled the scene immediately after the crash, while legal action is underway.
Faruk’s death has cast a pall of mourning among leaders and activists of BNP and its associate bodies. Political and social figures also expressed condolences to the bereaved family.
A day earlier, on Sunday afternoon, another road crash claimed the life of Zahidul Islam, a student of the Botany Department at Brindaban Government College, on the Dhuliyakhal bypass road in Habiganj town.
Zahidul, son of Abdus Shahid of Mirpur village in Bahubal upazila, died on the spot after his motorcycle collided with a Habiganj-bound passenger bus coming from Sylhet, according to police and witnesses.
Police later recovered the body and sent it to Habiganj District Sadar Modern Hospital morgue.
Following the incident, students of Brindaban Government College and several other educational institutions blocked roads in the bus stand area, disrupting traffic movement for nearly an hour.
The protesting students alleged that reckless speeding and careless driving by passenger buses were repeatedly causing fatal accidents on highways and bypass roads.
Habiganj Sadar Model Police Station Officer-in-Charge Zahid Hossain said police later brought the situation under control after reaching the spot.
The back-to-back deaths of two residents from the same upazila within two days have sparked concern across Bahubal, with locals demanding stricter enforcement of traffic laws and effective measures against reckless driving to prevent further tragedies.
