Two Jamaat-e-Islami leaders from Dacope in Khulna were killed in a road accident at the Bhanga roundabout in Faridpur early Saturday as they were travelling to Dhaka to join the party’s national rally at Suhrawardy Udyan.
The deceased were identified as Sheikh Abu Sayeed, 55, Ameer (chief) of Jamaat’s Dacope unit, and Mohammad Amanat Sheikh, 55, also from Dacope upazila in Khulna.
The accident took place around dawn on the Dhaka-Khulna Highway when a Royal Express passenger bus rear-ended the stationary minibus carrying the Jamaat delegation, said Mohammad Ashfaq Hossain, officer-in-charge of Bhanga Police Station.
According to police, Sayeed and Amanat Sheikh were standing in front of the minibus when the Dhaka-bound bus hit the vehicle from behind at Bhanga roundabout. Both men died on the spot. The Jamaat activists were on their way from Khulna to the capital to attend the party’s scheduled rally at Suhrawardy Udyan, Ashfaq said.
At least eight to nine others inside the minibus were also injured in the crash. Upon receiving information, members of Bhanga Police Station, Bhanga Highway Police and Fire Service rushed to the spot and brought the situation under control.
The bodies and the minibus were later taken into custody by Bhanga Highway Police, the officer said.
The fatal crash comes as Jamaat-e-Islami mobilised supporters from across the country for its first national rally at Suhrawardy Udyan in Dhaka.
