e_Paper 24-04-2017

Mayors lock horns over coloured bus plan
• Shohel Mamun
An uncomfortable scene ensued
during a meeting among the Road
Transport Ministry and the two
Dhaka city corporations yesterday
when the south mayor accused his
counterpart of bypassing him on a
citywide plan.
The focus of the ninth board
meeting of Dhaka Transport Coordination
Authority (DTCA), held at
the Dhaka South City Corporation
(DSCC) headquarters, was Dhaka
North City Corporation (DNCC)
Mayor Annisul Huq’s famous colour-coded
bus plan, which he has
been talking about since taking office.
In the meeting, Annisul unveiled
that a consultant team had carried
out a study and was almost done
drawing up a proposal.
But he was interrupted in
the middle of his PowerPoint
presentation by the South Mayor
Sayeed Khokon, who asked: “I
do not know about the study
and colour-coded buses. Will the
colour-coded buses run in the
north city corporation only?”
Annisul replied: “No, the buses
will be run throughout Dhaka.”
Several seconds of silence ensued
as Mayor Sayeed exchanged
looks with other officials who were
present in the meeting.
He asked again: “Why were we
not informed about this important
plan?”
The north mayor appeared dismissive
of his colleague, saying:
“You will be informed in time. The
initiative came from the road transport
ministry and Prime Minister
Sheikh Hasina has already been
informed.”
Road Transport and Bridges
Minister Obaidul Quader, who was
presiding over the meeting as DTCA
chairman, intervened, saying:
“Sayeed, you are being informed
through this meeting. Please do
not create any misunderstanding
over the matter.”
Mayor Sayeed appeared unwilling
to concede. He continued:
“How funny it is that the DNCC
mayor did not inform us about the
issue. Even the bus owners did not
News 5
MONDAY, APRIL 24, 2017
inform us.”
Khandaker Enayetullah, secretary
general of Bangladesh Sarak
Paribahan Malik Samity, said: “We
tried to meet with you, but never
we got any appointments.”
Sayeed replied: “I am always
available at my office. You have
never contacted me.”
Annisul interrupted, saying:
“You are my younger brother, I will
discuss the issue personally with
you.”
The tiff appeared to end there.
Annisul said at the meeting
that the study conducted
recommends operating 4,000
buses of six different colours
under six companies to solve the
indiscipline in the public transport
system.
“After completion of the
detailed project plan, we will
disclose the plan or the policy
through a seminar. Then the prime
minister will decide who will
execute the plan. We do not know
if it will be the city corporations or
the road transport authority,” he
added. •
DT
Raudha’s father says all
clues hint she was strangled
• Abdullah Al Dulal, Rajshahi
Mohamed Athif, the father of Maldivian
model and Rajshahi Islami
Bank Medical College student
Raudha Athif, reiterated that his
daughter did not commit suicide,
who he said was murdered.
During a press meet in Rajshahi
yesterday morning, he said there
were numerous inconsistencies in
the evidence found in the crime
scene, and also in the autopsy report.
Athif said: “During a suicide,
one would throw saliva and urinate
involuntarily, and the limbs
would not remain unkempt at the
spot of death. But, Raudha’s body
was found with her fists tightly
clenched, a common case in strangulation.”
“Even, finger impressions were
clearly found on her neck, which
would not have been there had
she really hanged herself. Such
marks could not have formed from
hanging using a cotton scarf,” he
observed.
Mohamed, also a doctor, said all
the clues found so far only point
towards a death caused from strangulation.
He said a conspiracy to
cover up the death by labelling it as
a suicide is going on.
“Since nobody saw her hanging
and all the photos show the body
lying on the bed, it only deepens
the doubt that Raudha did not
hang herself,” Mohamed added.
He questioned the ongoing investigation
and autopsy result that
ruled the death a self-killing. He
raised his eyebrows over the forensic
team and hospital authorities,
accusing them of negligence in
post-mortem.
Athif said neither an X-ray nor
an MRI test had been conducted
upon Raudha’s head or neck during
the autopsy.
Raudha, 20, was found dead
at her medical college dorm on
March 29. •
TEMPERATURE FORECAST FOR TODAY
Dhaka 34 27 Chittagong 30 27 Rajshahi 38 26 Rangpur 29 23 Khulna 38 27 Barisal 34 27 Sylhet 28 22
Cox’s Bazar 31 26
HEAVY RAIN LIKELY
MONDAY, APRIL 24
DHAKA
TODAY
TOMORROW
SUN SETS 6:24PM
SUN RISES 5:29AM
YESTERDAY’S HIGH AND LOW
35.0ºC
19.6ºC
Jessore
Chandpur
Source: Accuweather/UNB
PRAYER
TIMES
Fajr: 5:00am | Zohr: 1:15pm
Asr: 5:00pm | Magrib: 6:31pm
Esha: 8:30pm
Source: Islamic Foundation