A bus driver was shot dead and his assistant injured allegedly by a businessman in the Fulbaria bus terminal area in Dhaka on Thursday morning.
The deceased was identified as Mohammad Nizamuddin, son of Abdul Aziz of village Mathabhanga under Botiaghata upazila in Khulna.
Police quoting witnesses said that Jummon, a businessman of Siddique Bazar in the Old Town, shot the bus driver, Nizam, and his assistant Mohammad Russel after a scuffle at around 6:30am, leaving both critically injured.
Nizam and Russel were taken to Dhaka Medical College Hospital where the former succumbed to his injuries at around 9:00am.
Transport workers and locals blocked nearby roads for about half an hour in the morning in protest at the killing. They also caught Jummon, the alleged killer, and his brother Khokonand gave them a mass beating before the police arrived.
Police arrested the two siblings and took them to DMCH for treatment. The police also seized a pistol from Jummon.
Khokon claimed that Jummon had opened fire with his licensed pistol in self-defence after a gang of snatchers had attacked the two brothers as they were on their way home after a morning walk.
Mohammad Belayet Hossain, a witness to the incident, told New Age that he had seen Khokon slap driver Nizam during an altercation at the bus stop.
‘Some transport workers beat up Khokon after he slapped the driver. When Khokon called Jummon over cellphone, the latter shot and injured both Nizam and Russel,’ he said.
When approached, the Dhaka Metropolitan Police commissioner Benazir Ahmed said Khokon had used his licensed pistol illegally.
Nizam’s sister Faria Afrin Shampa filed a case with Shahbagh police station in this connection.
Nizam was a driver of a bus run on Gulisthan-Abdullahpur route.
