A court in Dhaka is scheduled to deliver its verdict on Sunday (Dec 1) in the trial of two owners, two drivers and two helpers from Jabale-Nur Paribahan in connection with a fatal accident that killed two college students on Airport Road in Dhaka in July last year.

On Nov 14, Dhaka Metropolitan Sessions Judge KM Imrul Kayes scheduled the delivery of the verdict after concluding the trial following closing arguments by the prosecution and defence.

Earlier, the court examined 37 witnesses including investigation officer of the total 41 witnesses in this much-talked-about case.

The court framed the charges after rejecting discharge petitions filed by four accused out of six accused in the case on Oct 25, 2018.

The accused are Shahadat Hossain, owner of Jabal-e-Noor Paribahan bus, which is responsible for the accident, its driver Masum Billah, his assistant Enayet Hossain, owner of another Jabal-e-Noor Paribahan bus Jahangir Alam, its driver Zobair Sumon, and his assistant Kazi Asad.

Of the six accused, four are now behind bars while Kazi Asad and Jahangir Alam are on the run. Among the accused, Masum Billah and bus owner Shahadat Hossain gave confessional statements to the court under section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.

On Sept 6, 2018, Detective Branch of police submitted a charge sheet to the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Court of Dhaka against two bus drivers, two helpers, and two owners of two Jabal-e-Noor Paribahan buses.

In the charge sheet, 41 people were made witnesses, which said drivers of two buses of Jabal-e-Noor Paribahan were on competition to get more passengers and drove recklessly by ploughing through people waiting on the pavement.

On Jul 29, 2018, Diya Khanam Mim and Abdul Karim Rajib, students of Shaheed Ramiz Uddin Cantonment College, were killed as a Jabal-e-Noor Paribahan bus ploughed through a crowd while competing with another bus of the same company in front of Kurmitola General Hospital in Dhaka's Airport Road.

A massive road safety movement followed after this incident, which led to the foundation of Road Transport Act 2018 that came into force from Nov 1, 2019.