Police humiliation in Rajshahi poses major threat to elections, experts warn

The public humiliation of police officers following the spread of rumours over a road accident has been described by academics and citizens as a serious threat to the electoral environment.

On Monday afternoon, Rajshahi Metropolitan Police spokesman Gaziur Rahman told Views Bangladesh that the bus driver involved in the accident fled the scene without stopping and later abandoned the bus at a filling station. “While police began legal procedures, a group spread rumours, incited a mob and subjected police officers to extreme public humiliation. Claims that the accused was released are entirely false,” he said.

He added that army and police officials later rescued the officer-in-charge and a sub-inspector from the crowd. Police are preparing a case over the accident, and even if the victims’ families do not file one, police will proceed as the complainant. The bus has already been seized, efforts are under way to arrest the driver, and action has begun against those involved in the mob violence.

According to police and local sources, a bus and an auto-rickshaw collided in the Belpukur area of Rajshahi at around 5pm on Sunday, killing a Barendra University student at the scene. Six to seven others were injured, and a man and a woman later died in hospital.

After the accident, agitated locals and classmates of the deceased blocked the highway. A police team led by the Belpukur police station officer-in-charge arrived, only to face a hostile crowd. A sub-inspector was forced to hold his ears and do sit-ups, with footage widely circulated on social media, an act police described as humiliating a vital state institution.

Rajshahi University political science professor Dr Farhat Tasnim said the state exists to ensure rights and dignity, warning that mob culture and public humiliation of state institutions would bring nothing positive for the country. “One crime cannot justify another. Such matters must be resolved through the law,” he said.

Another political science professor, Dr A K M Mahmudul Haque, said while the accident was tragic, publicly humiliating law enforcement was even more disturbing. “If this continues, it will return like a boomerang. Humiliating police and spreading it on social media is shameful and a major threat to the upcoming election,” he said.

Rajshahi district election officer Md Motawakkil Rahman declined to comment on whether the incident threatened the election, referring the matter to the deputy commissioner and returning officer. Attempts to reach Rajshahi deputy commissioner and returning officer Afia Akhter were unsuccessful.

Paba Highway Police station officer-in-charge Mozammel Haque Kazi said the auto-rickshaw was heading towards Puthia when it was struck by a passenger bus coming from the opposite direction, killing Shanto Islam, a third-year Triple-E student at Barendra University, at the scene.

Hospital records show that the bodies of an unidentified woman and a man, 40, remain at the morgue. The injured include Mukul Hossain, 35, Mozammel Haque, 50, Rifat Hossain, 30, Ruhul Amin, 40, and two children.

Rajshahi Medical College Hospital emergency department spokesman Dr Shankar K Biswas said two victims were brought in dead from Puthia, while six others were admitted to wards 8 and 31, where they are receiving treatment.