A dairy trader was killed and a pick-up driver seriously injured after a truck collided head-on with their vehicle in Ullapara, Sirajganj, early on Tuesday morning.
The accident occurred at around 4am on 18 August near Patdhari Bazar on the Dhaka-Pabna highway. The deceased was identified as Saddam Hossain, son of Sadek Ali, from Goal Bathan village in Singra upazila of Natore district. He was involved in the dairy trade.
According to local residents and eyewitnesses, Saddam was travelling in a pick-up from Singra in Natore towards Shahjadpur when the vehicle reached the Patdhari Bazar area. At that point, it collided head-on with an oncoming truck. The impact left Saddam critically injured, and he died at the scene.
The pick-up driver also sustained serious injuries in the crash. Local people rushed to the spot and helped with the initial rescue efforts.
The accident was followed by tension among residents over the police response. Locals claimed that they repeatedly informed the police after the collision but that officers did not reach the scene promptly. They alleged that police arrived nearly three hours after the accident.
Angered by what they described as a delay in the emergency response, local residents placed Saddam’s body on the highway and blocked traffic. The protest caused significant disruption on the Dhaka-Pabna highway, with a traffic queue stretching for about two kilometres.
Residents said they believed a quicker response could have allowed the injured man to receive medical assistance sooner. Their allegation, however, has been disputed by the police.
Sanowar Hossain, the duty officer at Hatikumarul Highway Police Station, denied that officers had neglected the incident. He said police were dispatched promptly after the accident was reported through the emergency service.
Sub-Inspector Kishore Kumar Pal of Hatikumarul Highway Police Station said the police were not informed of the incident immediately, which caused some delay in reaching the location. He said local people subsequently blocked the highway in protest.
Police later spoke with the protesters and persuaded them to withdraw the blockade, after which traffic movement returned to normal. The deceased’s body was recovered and handed over to his family, according to the highway police.
The incident highlights the disruption that serious road crashes can cause on major highways, where even a temporary blockade can quickly result in long queues and delays for passengers and commercial vehicles. In this case, the dispute over the timing of the emergency response added to the disruption following the collision.
The exact circumstances that led to the truck and pick-up colliding, including the cause of the crash and the condition of the vehicles immediately before impact, were not provided in the initial reports. Police action in relation to the accident is expected to proceed according to the applicable legal process.
