Gazipur college students block highway seeking justice for peer’s death

College students blocked the Dhaka-Mymensingh highway in Gazipur's Masterbari area since this morning, demanding justice over the death of a fellow student, who was reportedly pushed off a bus and run over by another vehicle.

Salna Highway Police Station Officer-in-Charge (OC) Saleh Ahmed told The Daily Star at 12:00pm that traffic on the highway remains suspended in Masterbari area of Sadar upazila.

Highway police said that the students of Rover Scout School and College blocked the road in the area from around 10:45am protesting the death of Siam, 19.

Siam, a resident of Baupara village in Gazipur Sadar upazila, was an eleventh-grade student of Rover Scout School and College near Masterbari on the Dhaka-Mymensingh highway.

Joydebpur Sadar Police Station Officer-in-Charge (OC) Mohammad Abdul Halim told this correspondent that on May 8, around 10:00pm, a Champion Paribahan bus was travelling from Joydebpur intersection to Masterbari.

Quoting eyewitnesses, the OC said that when the bus reached Masterbari area of the highway, Siam tried to pay half fare to the bus helper, which led to an argument. At one point, the helper pushed Siam, causing him to fall on the road. An unidentified vehicle then ran him over, killing him on the spot, the police official said.

The OC said that SI Abul Kashem recovered the body from the spot and sent it to Shaheed Tajuddin Ahmed Medical College Hospital for autopsy. The bus in which Siam was travelling on was seized. "We are trying to detain the bus driver and the helper," he said.

He added that the victim's family had not lodged any complaint regarding the incident yet.