A court on Sunday sent W Bepari, owner of the bus that rammed a car, motorcycle and a microbus at the Dhaleshwari toll plaza on the Dhaka-Mawa Expressway on Friday, leaving six people dead, to jail.

Dhaka Senior Judicial Magistrate Sheikh Muzahidul Islam passed the order as police produced W Bepari, owner of Bepari Paribahan, before the court and pleaded to keep him behind bars till the end of the probe.

The same court earlier sent the driver of the bus, Md Nuruddin, to jail after recording his statement under Section 164.

In his statement, Nuruddin said: "The bus was in the garage for seven days before the incident. There was a problem with the brakes and clutch plates of the bus. Parvez, son of the car's owner W Bepari, pressured me to take the bus out on the road in this condition."

"Parvez told me it would be fine if I drove the bus. Under pressure, I took the bus out on Friday. There were 60 passengers on the bus. The speed of the bus was 55kmph before going to the Dhaleshwari toll plaza. I tried many times to control the bus before entering the toll plaza, but I could not control it," he said.

He continued: “The brakes of the bus failed, even after trying to reduce the speed, it could not be controlled. Later, the bus crashed at the toll plaza. I got out of the bus and fled.

Nuruddin was arrested in the Siddhirganj area on Friday while W Bepari was arrested in Madaripur the next day.

"The accident occurred as the speedy bus rammed into the other vehicles as those were waiting in line to pay the toll at the Dhaleswari toll plaza on the Dhaka-Mawa Expressway. The bus hit a car first, then a motorcycle and then a microbus at the end at 11am. The car became almost a pile of metal in the accident, "Hasara highway police station Officer-in-Charge Abdul Quader Jilani told BSS.

Six people were killed and 10 others were injured in the incident.

The deceased were Amena Akter, 45, her daughters Israt Jahan, 26, and Ria Moni, 11, Israt's son Aiyaj Hossain, 2, Md Abdullah, 7, and Reshma Akter, 28, son and wife respectively of Sumon Hossain of capital's Hatirjheel area.