The killing of trucker Khokon’s just a kilometre away from his home in Bogra town leaves his pregnant wife and eight-year-old son devastated. Inset, Shahidul Islam . Photo: Star
Shahidul Islam Khokon, the truck driver who was killed by pickets when he was driving his goods-laden vehicle through Bogra in the early hours yesterday, had cherished a dream. His neighbours said the only dream he had was to educate his son and give him a better life.
Father of an eight-year-old boy, Khokon, 40, worked extremely hard to earn a living that enabled him to send his son to school and feed his family, the neighbours added.
On the fateful day yesterday, his Chittagong-bound truck from Dinajpur came under attack by pro-BNP pickets at Baropur in Bogra town, police said.
One of the brickbats hurled by the pickets hit Khokon breaking through the windscreen. He was critically wounded and was taken to Shaheed Ziaur Rahman Medical College Hospital where he was pronounced dead.
Khokon, who used to remain away from home most of the month, lived with his family in a rented tin-shed one-room house. His 35-year-old wife Mafela Begum, who is six months pregnant, and his son Abdur Rahman were wailing for him on the courtyard.
Rahman, a student of class two, said he would miss his father immensely as he had always cared for him. “He used to encourage me to concentrate on my studies,” Rahman said.
His wife held Rahman tightly on her lap and said during the overnight stay on his way to Chittagong from Dinajpur, she had asked him to eat wheat fry for breakfast. “During his brief stay home, he gave us some wheat and told us to fry it, telling me that he would have it upon his return,” she said.
Khokon was killed minutes after he had left, less than a kilometre away from his home.
“He was the only source of income for the family and I do not know how we will survive now,” she cried.
Neighbour Mofazzal Hossain said Khokon had come to Bogra from Sherpur when he was very young and had good relations with everyone.
Sima Begum, another neighbour, said Khokon was a hard-working man who had dreamt of educating his son and getting rid of poverty.
Source: The Daily Star
