A police pickup truck overturned in Madaripur while transporting four suspects arrested in an assault case to a police station, killing a constable identified as Abdus Salam, 51. A sub-inspector and four other police personnel, along with four pedestrians, were injured in the incident. Four of the injured officers were sent to Dhaka for advanced treatment.
The accident occurred around 2:30 p.m. Thursday at Mother Bazar in Khoajpur union, on the Madaripur-Shariatpur road.
Abdus Salam, who died in the crash, was the son of Abdul Barek Bhuiyan of West Char Karamashi village in Karimganj upazila, Kishoreganj district. He was posted at Bhadrasan police investigation center in Shibchar upazila, Madaripur.
Police and local residents said officers were taking four suspects — Rajjab, Zahirul Islam, Mizan and Abbas — arrested in an assault case from the Iterpul area of Madaripur municipal town to Shibchar police station. As the pickup reached the Mother Bazar area, a young child suddenly ran across the road.
Trying to avoid hitting the child, the driver lost control of the vehicle. It then overturned into a ditch beside the road.
Constable Abdus Salam, who was in the pickup, died at the scene. Also seriously injured were Md Mozammel Hoque, 45, officer-in-charge of Bhadrasan police investigation center; Constable Sohel Matubbar, 35; Constable Shamim Mia, 34; Constable Hasan Hossain, 25; and Constable Shariful Islam, 32.
The injured were taken to Madaripur 250-Bed District Hospital, after which the four seriously injured officers were referred to Dhaka.
Additional Superintendent of Police Faria Rafiq Bhabna of Madaripur said the police vehicle overturned while swerving to avoid hitting a child on the way back with the suspects. One officer was killed and several others injured, she said, adding that some of the injured were sent to Dhaka for advanced treatment. She urged everyone to exercise greater caution on the roads.