Police filed two cases against a minister’s vehicle after it was found travelling on the wrong side of Circuit House Road in Dhaka this morning.

A senior official of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police’s traffic division said traffic police stopped the Range Rover, bearing registration number Dhaka Metro-Gha-18-2125, at around 9:08am as it was heading towards the Secretariat on the wrong side of the road.

The driver, Arif Hossain, was fined for reckless driving, the official said.

Police imposed fines of Tk 3,000 for each of the two offences, totaling Tk 6,000, he said.

Officials said the vehicle belonged to the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism and that Minister Rashiduzzaman Millat was inside when it was stopped.

Traffic officials described the action as unprecedented, saying they could not recall any previous instance in Bangladesh of a case being filed against a minister’s vehicle for driving on the wrong side of the road.

They said there had been previous reports of vehicles carrying ministers driving against traffic to avoid congestion or reach their destinations faster, but those incidents had not led to cases.

The incident sparked discussion at the Secretariat, with senior police officials saying the action showed that traffic rules should apply equally to everyone, regardless of the status of those travelling in a vehicle.

A senior police official said the prime minister’s motorcade had been following traffic rules and obeying signals while travelling through congested roads.

The official said the cases against the minister’s vehicle should send a clear message to senior government officials to comply with traffic laws.