Evidence of alcohol found in Gulshan teen driver’s car

Even a day after a reckless underage driver injured four people, neither the victims nor the police took any legal step allegedly under pressure from the "influential family" of the accused, said a senior police official yesterday.

Sixteen-year-old Fareez Rahman, nephew of a former Awami League lawmaker, rammed the sports utility vehicle he was driving into two rickshaws in the capital's Gulshan on Monday afternoon. Two rickshaw pullers, a passenger and a pedestrian were injured in the incident.

A sub-inspector (SI) of police, who visited the spot immediately after the incident, told this correspondent that Fareez was drunk while driving, and police had found evidence of that inside the vehicle.

Both the police officials wished anonymity, terming the incident a sensitive one.

A friend of Fareez, who asked not to be named, told The Daily Star that Fareez was filming himself on his mobile phone while driving the SUV and sending selfies to his friends through photo-messaging app Snapchat.

"I received Fareez's selfies while he was driving the vehicle. A bottle of Chivas Regal [a whisky brand] was also seen in a number of pictures," he said.

Contacted, Assistant Commissioner (Gulshan Zone) Rafiqul Islam of Dhaka Metropolitan Police claimed none of the victims were willing to file a case as "they were content with the treatment costs being borne by the teenage boy's family".

Asked if police would file a case for reckless underage driving, he told this correspondent to call him later. But he did not pick up the phone afterwards.

The existing laws do not allow any person under 18 to drive vehicles.

Of the victims, private service holder Mohammad Rafique, 27, who had sustained head injury, underwent a surgery at United Hospital and was not out of danger as of last night, said SI Ferdous Ahmed Biswas of Gulshan Police Station, where Fareez's car was kept.