Bangladesh Government Considers to Impose Death penalty for causing road deaths

New Delhi: Following widespread protests from the student’s fraternity, the Bangladesh Government has moved forward a new draft of the Road Transport Act 2018. In order to pacify the student protestors, the Bangladesh government on Monday proposed to consider death penalty for those miscreants who deliberately try and cause road deaths.

The government has also approved of a transformed and upgraded road safety law because of continued violent clashes between the protestors and police personnel had disrupted normal life in the capital city Dhaka.

Violent protests erupted from last one week following the death of two teenage students, a boy and a girl who were killed when two city buses were competing to pick maximum passengers which is a common occurrence. One of the bus drivers fled the scene, although both were later arrested.

Amid the violent clashes, Police on Monday lobbed tear shells, used water cannons and charged batons to scatter the irked protestors of Dhaka University students who vehemently demanded safer roads.

The government rushed the new draft of the Road Transport Act 2018 to the Cabinet amidst pressure from student protesters for safe roads and an unannounced strike by bus operators in response to the demonstrations.

Cabinet Secretary Shafiul Alam told the media after the meeting Chaired by PM Sheikh Hasina, “The Cabinet today approved the Road Transport Act 2018 with provisions of highest five years of rigorous imprisonment for reckless driving while the term was three years.”

Meanwhile, a group of armed men also attacked a convoy of cars carrying the U.S. envoy to Bangladesh in the capital Dhaka on Saturday night.