Police SI made to hold ears over allegation of helping driver flee

An allegation has been raised against a police sub-inspector (SI) for allegedly assisting a bus driver to escape in exchange for money following an accident in which three people were killed in Puthia upazila of Rajshahi.

Later, a video showing the SI being forced to stand while holding his earlobes spread on social media.

The incident took place in the Pollapukur area of the upazila on Sunday evening. During the unrest, the officer-in-charge (OC) of Belpukur police station was also confined and verbally abused. 

Agitated locals alleged that police helped the bus driver flee after the accident. However, police said the driver had already escaped before they arrived at the scene. 

Around 5pm on Sunday, a bus collided with a battery-run autorickshaw at Pollapukur on the Rajshahi-Natore Highway, leaving a student of Varendra University dead on the spot.

Six to seven others were injured and taken to a hospital, where a woman and a man succumbed to their injuries.

Following the accident, angry locals and classmates of the deceased student blocked the highway.

After receiving information, a police team led by the OC of Belpukur police station went to the scene, where they faced the wrath of the agitated crowd.

Rajshahi Metropolitan Police spokesperson Gaziur Rahman said on Monday that after the accident, the bus did not stop. 

The driver abandoned the bus at a filling station and escaped from there, he said, adding that all of this happened before police arrived.

Gaziur said rumours were later spread claiming police helped the driver escape, which he described as completely baseless and untrue. 

About an hour later, senior police officials reached the scene and rescued the OC and the SI, he said.

The bus has already been seized from the filling station, and efforts are under way to arrest the driver, he added.