Students from Bangladesh Public Administration Training Centre (BPATC) staged a protest by blocking the Dhaka-Aricha Highway, demanding justice for the death of an Assistant Programmer of the institute, who was killed in a bus accident.
On Wednesday, the students from BPATC School and College blocked the highway in front of their institution's main gate for an hour, from 11:30 AM to 12:30 PM. The blockade caused a major disruption on both lanes of the highway. The students were later removed from the road by the police at around 12:30 PM after brief negotiations.
According to the police and local sources, the protest was triggered by the reckless driving of a Welcome Transport bus, which struck and killed Rustam Ali, a program officer at BPATC. The students demanded that the responsible driver be brought to justice and called for safer roads, as similar incidents had occurred in the area without proper accountability, resulting in the continued loss of lives.
During the protest, Hasanuzzaman Sheikh, an Assistant Professor from the Chemistry Department of BPATC School and College, stated, "We are demanding safe roads, reduced vehicle speeds, and justice for those responsible for the death of Rubaiya Tabassum Ritu's father, who was also killed in a Welcome Transport bus accident. This has driven our students to take to the streets."
The Officer-in-Charge of Savar Highway Police, Saogatul Alam, confirmed that the students had blocked the road demanding justice for Rustam Ali’s death and safer roads.
He further stated that after the police intervened, the students were peacefully removed from the road, and traffic resumed as normal.
Ealier, on January 5, a Welcome Transport bus, driving recklessly, ran over Rustam Ali as he was crossing the Dhaka-Aricha Highway near BPATC’s Gate 3. Rustam was critically injured in the incident and was receiving treatment at Enam Medical College Hospital in Savar. Unfortunately, he succumbed to his injuries on Tuesday morning.
