Teen emerges from driver’s side in CCTV footage, left out of case over Baridhara construction worker’s death

A teenager who allegedly drove the speeding car that hit and killed a construction worker in Dhaka’s Baridhara Diplomatic Zone yesterday was not named in the case, despite being detained at the scene.

The case, filed today with Gulshan Police Station under the Road Transport Act, names 44-year-old Akash Marok as the driver. Akash has reportedly been absconding since the accident.

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The car went onto the footpath on Road 1 in the Baridhara Diplomatic Zone and hit the construction worker around 5:00pm yesterday.

The victim, Mehedi Hasan, 24, originally from Sonaray village in Domar upazila of Nilphamari, was resting on the footpath after a day's work, witnesses and police said.

People nearby pulled Mehedi, who was trapped under the car, out and rushed him to Kurmitola General Hospital, where doctors declared him dead.

Mehedi’s elder brother, Moktadir Islam, 28, filed the case, alleging that Akash drove recklessly and ran over Mehedi, causing severe injuries to his head, chest and back.

Repeated attempts to reach Moktadir for comment on why the teenager was not named in the case were unsuccessful. His mobile phone was switched off.

Police said people at the scene detained the teenager, who was allegedly in the driver's seat, and handed him over to police. He remains in custody.

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Construction worker killed after car runs over him in Baridhara Diplomatic Zone, teenager detained

"The teenager has not been named in the case. However, he is still in our custody. If analysis of the footage establishes his involvement, he will be shown arrested," Gulshan Police Station Inspector (Investigation) Ismail Hossain told The Daily Star around 6:30pm today.

Police sources said the teenager is an O-level student at an English-medium school in Gulshan. His father is a captain with Biman Bangladesh Airlines, while the car is registered in his mother's name.

A CCTV footage of the accident, which has circulated on social media, shows the teenager in the driver's seat.

The footage shows the car hitting Mehedi, crashing into a streetlight pole and coming to a halt.

Two people then get out. The teenager, wearing a black T-shirt, emerges from the right side, where the driver’s seat is located. A middle-aged man in a shirt gets out from the other side.

Both remain beside the car as people gather. The teenager is later seen walking away from the scene. Locals subsequently detained him and handed him over to police.

Note: The Daily Star is withholding the name and other identifying details of the detained minor. The reason is the legal protection provided to minors under Bangladesh’s Children Act, 2013. The Act addresses the issue specifically from the perspective of the media. Section 81(1) says that, in relation to a pending case or legal proceeding, no report, photograph or information concerning a child may be published through print or electronic media or the internet if it is contrary to the child’s interests and could directly or indirectly identify the child. Our decision to withhold the minor’s identity is therefore not intended to withhold relevant information from readers. It is a step taken to comply with the legal protections afforded to minors.