3 killed as prison van rams 3-wheeler

At least three passengers of a rickshaw-van were killed and five others injured yesterday when a prison van rammed it in Rangpur Sadar upazila.

Agitated locals then set fire to the vehicle of Rangpur Central Jail and blocked the Rangpur-Dinajpur highway, where the accident took place, for an hour from 6:00pm.

The pickup was heading to Rangpur city from Saidpur upazila in Nilphamari district as it hit the rickshaw van at Shaleasa under Sadar upazila, leaving three people dead on the spot, police and witnesses said.

The deceased were identified as Jesmin Begum, 25, and Anar, 7, of Shaleasa, and Chhafur Uddin, 65, of Kharuabada village of the upazila.

Four other passengers of the rickshaw van and its driver were hurt. Their identities could not be known immediately. 

Local people rescued the injured and admitted them to Rangpur Medical College Hospital (RMCH).

Agitated people then torched the prison van.

Anwar Hossain, assistant superintendent of highway police in Rangpur, said that being informed of the accident police rushed to the spot and brought the situation under control.

Additional police have been deployed in the area to avert further violence, he added.

Ratna Roy, superintendent of Rangpur Central Jail, told The Daily Star that she and Abdul Quddus, jailor, had come to Dhaka to take their divisional examination scheduled for today but hearing of the incident, they headed to Rangpur.

Meanwhile, three people were killed in Rangpur city yesterday noon as a passenger bus from Pirgachha hit a motorcycle.

Two of the dead were Mahabub Hossain, 65, and his wife who were going to Pirgachha by the motorcycle.

After the accident, the bus driver lost control over the steering and plowed into a rice mill by the road, leaving the mill owner, Chhanu Mian, severely injured, police and local people said.

He died while being taken to RMCH.

Later, local people vandalised the bus. The bus driver and helper, however, fled the scene.