RAB arrests speedboat owner

The Rapid Action Battalion has arrested one of the owners of the speedboat that crashed into a sand carrier in Madaripur’s Shibchar and killed 26. Chandu Molla, 35, was taken into custody in the early hours of Sunday, said RAB spokesman Commander Khandaker Al Moin.

“He was hiding away at a relative’s house in Keraniganj,” Moin said. “We raided the house on a tip-off and arrested him.”

River Police SI Lokman Hossain filed a case over the accident at Shibchar Police Station, naming speedboat driver Shah Alam, speedboat owners Chandu Molla and Rezaul, pier leaseholder Shah Alam Khan, and several others in the case.

On May 3, a speedboat crashed into the bulkhead of a sand carrier on the Padma River in Madaripur’s Shibchar and overturned. The accident killed 26 passengers.