No arrest, no seizure

Police have neither arrested the driver of the vehicle involved in the hit and run at Mohakhali on Tuesday that left one dead nor seized the car of MP Ekramul's family.

Even though eyewitnesses have claimed that only one person was in the car, the driver, which they later learnt was ruling Awami League lawmaker Mohammad Ekramul Karim Chowdhury's son Shabab Chowdhury, the police are saying they are collecting and scrutinising CCTV footage to identify the driver.

“We are trying to identify the man who was on the driving seat during the accident by scrutinising the footage,” said Masudur Rahman, deputy commissioner (Media) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police.

Ekramul's family, however, refuted the claims of witnesses and said the professional driver they had employed for the Audi sport utility vehicle was at the wheels.

Syed Mamun Mostafa, assistant commissioner (Mirpur zone) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police, said different parties were giving different versions about who was driving the car.

Police are collecting CCTV footage of the spot and nearby areas to identify the driver. Police will also collect CCTV footage from the NAM flats on Manik Miah Avenue where witnesses had chased the vehicle to on Tuesday, he said.

The luxury vehicle that ran over Selim Bepary, 45, a driver by profession, at Mohakhali Flyover near Shaheen College is registered to Ekramul's wife Kamrun Nahar Shiuli.

Shiuli told reporters, “My driver was driving the car and he had the accident.”

Witnesses claimed that the vehicle did not stop after hitting the man. The number plate of the car fell off on impact and was found at the scene. A biker chased the Audi and later another motorist joined the chase. They chased the car to the NAM flat compound.

Preferring anonymity, the motorist who chased the Audi told The Daily Star, “That car entered the NAM flat compound and I followed him in my car. A young man came out of the car. He was identified as Shabab by the people present there.

“Shabab told us that his car was hit by a bus and he did not know whether anyone was killed. As an unpleasant situation arose, I left and called 999 and informed the police about the incident.”

A top police official at the DMP, wishing anonymity, said law enforcers might be going slow on this matter as the lawmaker's family was trying to negotiate financial compensation with the victim's family.

“The victim's family is also keen on negotiations,” the official said.

The family on Wednesday filed a case with Kafrul Police Station against unknown persons.

Lawmaker Ekramul flew to Dhaka from Noakhali yesterday.