Mirsharai tragedy truck driver gets 5 years jail

CHITTAGONG, Dec 8 (UNB): A court here Thursday sentenced five years imprisonment to the truck driver responsible for the tragic road accident that killed 46, mostly school students, in Mirsarai Upazila of the district on July 11. The court awarded Mofizur Rahman the jail term under two separate sections of a law. He was awarded three years jail term for reckless driving and fined Tk 10,000, in default, to suffer six months more rigorous imprisonment (RI). The court also sentenced him to two years jail term for causing serious injuries to the victims during the crash. It also fined him Tk 10,000, in default, to suffer three months more RI. The court asked to execute the two verdicts one after another. It also gave order to seize the truck and sell it in auction. After examining the records and witnesses Magistrate Farida Yasmin of Senior Judicial Magistrate Court of Chittagong handed down the verdict in the morning. When truck driver was giving way to a three-wheeler coming from the opposite direction he lost control over the steering and the truck fell into a roadside ditch at Abu Torab road in Morsarai Upazila on July 11, leaving 46 people including 44 students dead. Among the victims, 39 died on the spot while others succumbed to their injuries on different dates, raising the death toll to 46. Most of the deceased were aged between 10 and 18. They were returning home by the hired truck after watching a football match of the Bangabandhu Gold Cup Primary School Football Tournament at a local playground in Mirsarai. Most of the students were from Abu Torab Bohumukhi High School, Abu Torab Govt Primary School and Abu Torab Fazil Madrasah. Kabir Ahmed Nizam, chairman of Mayani union parishad, filed a case with Mirsarai Police Station, accusing Mofiz the same day. He was arrested on July 21, 10 days after the tragic accident, at Batna village in Barisal. After police submitted the charge-sheet, a Chittagong court framed charges against Mofiz in this connection on October 30.