‘What will this Tk 5 lakh do?’

Wife of Abul Kalam Azad, who was killed after a bearing pad of a metro rail pillar fell on him, said her husband was killed due to negligence of the authorities concerned.   

"This was no accident. This was murder! And it happened due to the negligence of the metro rail authorities," said Irene Akhter, her voice trembling with fury and grief.

Azad, 35, was killed on the spot near Farmgate station.

Speaking to this newspaper from Tejgaon Police Station, Irene demanded justice, saying, "Compensation or a job will not be enough. I want accountability. I want a proper investigation. And I want those responsible to be punished."

Irene's voice broke as she spoke of her two young children now left fatherless. "My son is four. My daughter is three. They have just lost their father. Tell me, how do you compensate for that?"

Azad was from Shariatpur's Naria upazila. Azad finished his studies at Jagannath University. He was working at a travel agency in Dhaka's Uttara. His family lives in Chashara, Narayanganj.

Azad's brother-in-law, Sohag Ahmed, said, "Azad was in Malaysia for some time. He got married six years ago and started a family here."

Azad's body was found between metro rail pillars 432 and 433. Two others were injured in the incident. Azad was carrying his passport, which helped identify him.

Talking to our Shariatpur correspondent, Azad's cousin, Abdul Gani Chowkdar, said, "I heard that an adviser of the interim government announced Tk 5 lakh as compensation for Azad's death. What will this Tk 5 lakh do? This can never be compensation for a human life."

"For work purposes, he regularly commuted from Narayanganj to Farmgate."

"My brother has a four-year-old son named Mohammad Abdullah and a three-year-old daughter named Suraiya Akhter. How will his wife take care of these two children alone?" he asked.

Through journalists, he wanted to make a request to the government, "Please ensure a good future for Azad's children. The government must take their responsibility."