A madrasa teacher was killed after being run over by a Dhaka-bound bus in the Modern Mor area of Rangpur city on Sunday morning.
The incident triggered protests as an angry mob set the bus on fire and blocked the Rangpur-Dhaka highway for around two hours.
The deceased was identified as Abul Kashem, 45, a resident of Charan Balua area in Mithapukur upazila. He was the assistant superintendent of Ziad Pukur Dakhil Madrasa and lived in Dharmadas Milanpara area of Rangpur city.
According to police and eyewitnesses, the accident occurred around 10am in front of the Cotton Development Board office. Kashem was standing by the roadside to drop off his four-year-old daughter, Tasfia, at her madrasa when a Dhaka-bound RM Special Coach bus hit him while reversing.
The child escaped unharmed, but Kashem died on the spot.
Following the incident, locals seized the bus and set it on fire, disrupting road communication between Dhaka and several northern districts, including Lalmonirhat, Kurigram, Nilphamari, Thakurgaon and Panchagarh.
The blockade on the six-lane highway left hundreds of vehicles stranded, causing severe inconvenience to commuters.
Fire Service and Civil Defence personnel reached the spot and brought the fire under control with assistance from local residents. Anwarul Haq, senior station officer of Rangpur Fire Service, said firefighters initially faced resistance from the crowd but later managed to contain the blaze. The bus was almost completely gutted in the fire.
Local residents detained the bus driver, Mortuza, 56, and handed him over to police.
Rafiqul Islam, officer-in-charge of Tajhat Metropolitan Police Station, said police persuaded the protesters to withdraw the blockade.
“The driver has been arrested and a case will be filed over the incident,” he said, adding that the victim’s body had been handed over to his family and traffic movement on the highway had returned to normal.
