Twosome Tragedy
It were early Friday morning. First lights of dawn were yet to show up. And there was no fog on or around the Dhaka-Chittagong highway. Kutumbapur or the Kinsmen's Village is in Chandina, Comilla. There appears a fully laden bus but on unsteady a tread as a completely drunk man. And hits head-on a truck coming from the Chittagong side. The bus, hit very hard, falls into the wayside ditch. Seven die on the spot and three die later in hospitals. Half a hundred get injured, most of them seriously.
But this crime-induced tragedy differs from all earlier such. And this very much is the first incident in which a bus has met with both dacoity and collision at the same time.
The Hajiganj bound bus had among its passengers from Dhaka a gang of dacoits. As the bus approached Kutumbapur the dacoits bared their fangs. Unfortunately for all, meeting resistance from the driver they stabbed the driver first. And the bus started swaying without control. In the meantime the rest of the gang had snatched as much as they could from the passengers. But the victims and culprits both came to grief in the end and at the same time.
Road accidents are eminently preventable things - but only to an extent and over a long time frame. Dacoity, however, can be fought more effectively and with a sharp focus. And the bus dacoits do not enjoy the levities of the automobiles act. From the injured and surviving dacoits it should be easy to track down the whole gang. And they should be made to pay not only for dacoity and violent crime but also murder of ten.
The police record against bus dacoits is not bright. Let this brighten up without delay. Meanwhile, will the bus operators start taking care about getting a foolproof check on the passengers. It should not be difficult to pass through a security sieve some sixty people.
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