A young journalist was killed on Monday as the car of Naldanga Upazila Nirbahi Officer crushed the motorcycle the journalist was riding on Bogura-Natore highway at Ningoin under Singra Upazila in Natore.
The deceased, Sohel Ahmed Jibon, 36, son of late Abdul Jalil of Balua Basua area under Singra municipality, was a upazila correspondent at Bogura-based daily Dainik Duranta. The deceased was also an assistant teacher at Agpara Sherkole Bondor High School.
Highway police and witnesses said, journalist Sohel was heading toward his school by his motorcycle in the morning.
When Sohel reached Ningoin area, the vehicle of Naldanga UNO carrying three people including the UNO’s wife Mansi Dutt Moumita crushed the motorcycle at about 10:15am and left him critically injured.
Naldanga and Singra are two adjacent upazilas in Natore district.
After the incident, Moumita, a lecturer of Gol-E-Afroz Government College in Singra, got out of the government vehicle and left the place by another car, witnesses said.
On information, firefighters rescued critically injured Sohel and rushed him to Sirajganj Upazila Health Complex from where doctors referred him to Rajshahi Medical College Hospital.
Later, he succumbed to his injuries at about 12:15pm.
RMCH officials said that Sohel’s body was released from the hospital without any post mortem examination as per application from his family.
Solaiman Hossain, a businessman who witnessed the accident, said that there were three people, including a woman and the driver, in the government vehicle.
‘After the accident, the woman got out of the car and left the place by another car. Later, Fire Service personnel reached the spot and rescued the injured motorcyclist’, he added.
The students of Gol-e-Afroz College said that one of their teachers used to come to the college every day by the car involved in the accident.
However, college acting principal Zahir Uddin told New Age that he knew nothing about the government vehicle.
Naldanga UNO Sukhomoy Sarker told New Age that he sent his vehicle to the nearby upazila to fetch fuel from a petrol pump in Singra as there was fuel crisis in Naldanga area.
He also claimed that his wife was not in the car at the time of the accident.
Rezwanul Islam, officer-in-charge of Jhalmaliya Highway Police Station, said that they were investigating into the incident.
