With officials of bus companies complaining about a rise in the incidence of robbery on the highway to the northern districts from Dhaka, Ena Paribahan has issued a set of safety instructions to its workers who operate on the routes, bdnews24.com reports.
The workers of Ena night coaches now have to record videos of the passengers before departure from Gabtoli and stopovers at restaurants,
“We’ve completely prohibited picking up passengers from random spots,” said Khadaker Enayet Ullah, managing director of Ena Paribahan and secretary general of Bangladesh Road Transport Owners Association.
“We’ve also talked to the police for help.”
The workers of the long-route bus services travelling northwards have been asked to stay on the highest alert at Bogura and Gaibandha.
Additional instructions include always staying on the highways and avoiding bypasses or local roads.
DEADLY
Despite high alertness, the passengers of a Hanif Enterprise bus travelling on the Dhaka-Rangpur Highway were robbed at Gaibandha’s Champaganj in the wee hours of last Wednesday.
Driver Manjur Hossain, 55, was knifed to death by a raider who had disguised himself as a passenger.
The bus carrying 30 passengers to Thakurgaon had picked some travellers, who were actually robbers, around 2:30am at Gaibandha’s Sadullapur.
Manjur declined to give the invaders the control of the wheels and finally got stabbed. The group looted jewellery, mobile phones and cash from the passengers before getting off at Palashbari.
The supervisor of the bus later started a case against unknown assailants at Pirganj Police Station in Rangpur.
Saresh Chandra, OC of Pirgonj police, said they were yet to arrest anyone over the robbery and murder incident.
Later on Saturday night, the Rapid Action Battalion said in a message they arrested the robbers and details would be revealed on Sunday.
‘LOCAL’ CRIMINALS
Transport officials of different bus companies in Gabtoli confirmed that instances of robberies have abruptly risen after the resumption of services following the lifting of the COVID-19 lockdown.
Armed robbers attacked three Dhaka-bound buses at Chanpainawabganj’s Bholahat on Aug 23. They assaulted the transport workers and the passengers.
Bholahat Police Station OC Mahubur Rahman said they arrested eight suspects over the incident and the loot was recovered as well.
All the arrestees were from nearby localities. Several of them are accused in narcotics cases as well.
DRIVERS ON THE GUARD
Ramesh Chandra Ghosh, president of Bangladesh Bus-Truck Owners Association and one of the owners of Shyamoli Paribahan, said, “The robberies are a worrying issue. It concerns the security of the bus passengers, and the goods carried by trucks.”
“The pandemic has left many people almost without money. This has given a rise to criminal behaviour among some of them,” he said.
He also said Highway Police patrol the main roads at night, but things are different in remote places like Bholahat or Meherpur’s Mujibnagar.
“Transport workers, the truck drivers in particular, have been instructed to not venture into isolated areas deep in the night. They’ve been asked to stop the trip and rest somewhere safe until the break of dawn if necessary. They are being asked to stay alert.”
SP Munshi Shahabuddin of Bogura Highway Police said they sat with the bus owners’ leaders on Saturday and advised them to keep buses on highways in clusters at night.
“I hope this will resolve the problem. We are on guard 24 hours and the night patrol has been strengthened.”