A senior Jamaat-e-Islami leader from Khulna’s Dacope upazila was killed after being hit by a bus on his way to Dhaka to attend the party’s national rally.
The deceased, Maulana Sheikh Abu Sayeed, 52, was the ameer of Dacope upazila Jamaat. The fatal accident occurred around 3am on Friday on the Faridpur-Bhanga-Khulna highway near the Bhanga Highway Expressway Model Mosque.
Police said Abu Sayeed, who was also an assistant moulvi at Chalna Billalia Alim Madrasa, died on the spot when another bus crashed into the stationary bus carrying him and fellow activists. They had stopped for tea. Sayeed, a resident of Gaurakathi village under Dacope Police Station and son of the late Shohor Ali Sheikh, is survived by his wife and four daughters.
Two other Jamaat activists — Anisur Rahman and Kamal Hossain — were injured and are now undergoing treatment at Faridpur Medical College Hospital. The accident was confirmed by Bhanga Highway Police Station Officer-in-Charge Md Rokibuzzaman.
Witnesses said the group stopped their convoy at Bhanga Chowrasta intersection shortly before 3am to have tea. Abu Sayeed noticed that the banner on one of their buses had come loose and was trying to fix it along with others when a speeding bus hit them from behind and fled the scene.
Munshi Moinul Islam, assistant secretary of Khulna district Jamaat, said they were en route to attend Jamaat’s national rally at Dhaka’s Suhrawardy Udyan. Abu Sayeed had stepped down from the bus when the incident occurred.
Bhanga Highway Police Sub-Inspector Md Mamun said the buses carrying Jamaat activists from Khulna to Dhaka had stopped for a tea break near Bhanga Model Mosque when a Dhaka-bound bus rammed into two of the parked buses from behind, leaving Abu Sayeed crushed beneath the vehicle.
Locals rushed the injured to Bhanga Health Complex, where doctors declared Abu Sayeed dead. The critically injured were later transferred to Faridpur Medical College Hospital.
Police said the body had been handed over to family members and legal action was underway in connection with the accident.