Dhaka, Oct 31 (Just News): The High Court on Wednesday asked for a report from the inspector general of police in 15 days on steps taken following death of two infants and ‘hooliganism such as pouring burnt engine oil on drivers’ during transport strike on Sunday and Monday.
The bench of Justice Sheikh Hassan Arif and Justice Razik-Al-Jalil also asked the police chief to carry out an investigation into the crimes based on the Newspaper reports and video footages of the incident.
The order came in a writ petition filed by Supreme Court lawyer Sayedul Haque Sumon.
A seven-day girl, died on ambulance being obstructed by striking transport workers for one hour and a half on her way to Sylhet Osmani Medical College Hospital from Moulvibazar on Sunday, the first day of a 48-hour transport workers’ strike.
The victim was daughter of Kutan Miah of Azmirgram village at Baralekha upazila in Moulvibazar, police officials said.
During the second-day strike on Monday, two-day infant Zahidul Islam, son of construction worker Moinul Islam from Ganibazar in Sunamganj, died as the father could not convince drivers to carry his ailing son to hospital.
The baby’s mother normally gave birth at Sunamganj General Hospital Saturday night.
After being discharged from the hospital, the ambulance carrying the infant and his parents was obstructed by the transport workers on their way home Sunday afternoon.
On Monday morning the infant suffered from respiratory problem.
The baby died at about noon without treatment as transport workers denied to carry him to Sunamganj General Hospital prescribed by local doctors.
The General Hospital was 25 Kilometer away from the village.
At places across the country, unruly transport workers threw rotten fruit and vegetables at faces of drivers who took out vehicles during their strike. They also stopped vehicles and covered drivers’ face with burnt engine oil.
The High Court also asked the government and the police to explain why they would not be directed to take action against those involved in those unlawful actions.
The respondents include secretaries to ministries of home, road transportation and bridges division, IGP, Bangladesh Road Transport Authority, Moulvibazar and Sunamganj’s deputy commissioners and superintendents of police.
‘We have seen frustratingly that no such initiative has been taken either on the part of the government or on the part of law enforcement agencies when general people have been allowed to become victims of those hooligans on the streets,’ the court observed.
It observed that it made more agony when ‘we see that a minister of the present government leads Bangladesh Sarak Paribahan Sramik Federation.’
Law enforcement agencies acted as bystander when the anarchism was taken place, the court observed.
It said that even no action was taken when the incident of hooliganism was widely reported in leading newspapers and broadcasted by electronic media.
The court said that any organisation was entitled to enforce their programme either strike or work abstention according to the constitution.
But none can take away citizens’ fundamental rights or affect their daily activities in the name of such work abstention, the court observed.
(Just News/ys/2330hr)
