An accident shrouded in mystery

The death of a waste garment trader, Jakir Hossain, 42 in Gazipur, in an apparent road accident is shrouded in mystery. The Tk 27 lakh that he had been carrying with him disappeared.

Though police said Jakir died after an unknown vehicle hit his car near Rajendrapur National Park's Gate No-3 around 11:00pm on Friday, his family members suspect otherwise.

“At around 8:30pm, my brother left his Uttara home with Tk 27 lakh to give the money to the garment factory owners at Baniar Chala village in Gazipur. He was driving the car. If he died in an accident, the money should have been found on him,” his brother Nasir Uddin told The Daily Star.

The family suspect that he was either killed during a robbery staged as an accident or if there really was an accident, whoever went to the scene first took the money.

Quoting locals, Abdul Hai, officer-in-charge of Salna Highway Police Station, said Jakir's car skidded off the road and flipped over after an unknown vehicle hit it.

He was rushed to Shaheen Tajuddin Ahmed Medical College where doctors declared him dead.

The victim's nephew, Sagar Mia, told The Daily Star that they came know about the “accident” over phone from one Belayat, who had a business rivalry with Jakir for a long time, thus raising suspicion about the incident.

Belayet is an inhabitant of their village Baniar Chala, located around 7km away from the spot.

Contacted, Belayet told The Daily Star that one Rashidul form Rajendrapur area informed him over the phone about the incident.

“Knowing details about the car and from a business card with a mobile phone number, I thought that the victim was Jakir. So I informed his family.”

When asked why Rashidul had called him, Belayet said he did not know and that he could not remember who Rashidul was and that he could be an acquaintance.

He, however, denied having any business rivalry with Jakir and said they had not been in touch for about eight years. 

Hearing the news, police from Salna Highway Police Station and Hotapara Police Outpost, under Joydevpur Police Station, and firemen from Shreepur Fire Station went to the spot.

Officer-in-Charge Abdul Hai of the highway police station said police from the outpost first reached the spot while Nazmul Ahsan, in-charge of the outpost, said it was the highway police who got there first.

Police could not recover the money.

Jakir's nephew Sagar also alleged that the outpost in-charge Nazmul had detained his father Nasir Uddin and his car two to three months ago and threatened to implicate him in a narcotics case.

Police released his father and the car after taking Tk 6.5 lakh in bribe and Belayet mediated the negotiations, he claimed.

Nazmul denied the allegations.

Mohammad Jihad, station officer of Shreepur Fire Station, said police had taken the victim to the hospital before firemen reached the spot. He said he overheard relatives asking about the missing money.