Blockade supporters burn 40 people in a single day in Bangladesh as three more die

At least 40 people have burned in a single day in a string of arson attacks carried out by BNP-sponsored blockade supporters across Bangladesh.

On Friday, two victims, injured earlier in similar attacks, died from severe burns at the Dhaka Medical College and Hospital (DMCH).

Since it began on Jan 5, the non-stop transport blockade has been spewing violence in the form of deadly arson attacks and bomb blasts in capital Dhaka and elsewhere in the country.

At least 35 people have been killed and over 100 injured across the country so far in the rising violence.

One 13-year old Jakir Hossain, yet to be fully identified while police try to ascertain the exact cause of his burns, died at DMCH in the wee hours of Friday.

The other, Abdur Rahim, assistant of a truck driver, was a petrol-bomb victim from Thursday night's arson attack on a truck in Bogra.

He died around 10:15am Friday, said DMCH police outpost Inspector Mozammel Haque.

One auto-rickshaw driver, identified as Shahjahan Uddin, 30, died on spot when a truck hit the three-wheeler around 11pm on the Sylhet-Dhaka Highway in Tetli Badikona. The truck driver had lost control when miscreants threw Molotov cocktails that burned him and the vehicle.

In Dhaka, at least 27 people burned in an arson attack on a bus by suspected blockade supporters on Demra Road in Jatrabarhi's Mollar Bridge area around 9:30pm, police said.

All of them were admitted to the DMCH's burns unit.

Jatrabarhi Police Station Sub-Inspector (SI) Emranul Islam said the bus which was on way to Narayanganj's Rupganj caught fire after miscreants hurled Molotov cocktails at it.

Burns unit coordinator Dr Samanta Lal Sen told bdnews24.com that six of the injured were in critical condition.

However, the degree of burns the injured had sustained could not be immediately determined.

Two others --'Afroza', 30, and Ishtiaq Mohammad Babar, 32, -- with different injuries were also admitted to the DMCH.

Meanwhile, at least 11 people including three women and two children were burned and several others injured in arson attacks on three vehicles in Rajshahi and Bogra Friday evening.

bdnews24.com

Rajshahi correspondent

said nine people got burned when two buses were set on fire in the district's Poba and Tanor Upazilas.

Police said the attacks were carried out by activists of Islami Chhatra Shibir, the student wing of Jamaat-e-Islami.

Tanor Police Station OC Anwar Hossain said Shibir activists hurled Molotov cocktails at a bus in front of the local BRAC office on Tanor-Rajshahi road, roughly a kilometre away from the Upazila headquarters.

Nine people suffered burns when the bus caught fire, he said, adding that at least six others were injured while trying to get off.

Some of the injured, including a child, were admitted at the Rajshahi Medical College and Hospital (RMCH).

In the second incident in Rajshahi, Poba Police Station OC Motihar Rahman said locals caught two Shibir activists including the Upazila unit chief when they tried to flee setting a Rajshahi-bound bus ablaze by hurling a Molotov cocktail in Teghori area.

The locals broke their hands and legs before handing over the duo to police, he added.

Several passengers were injured while trying to get off the bus in a hurry. One of them was taken to the RMCH.

bdnews24.com's Bogra correspondent said two people suffered burn injuries when miscreants hurled a petrol bomb at a truck at Charmatha in the district on Friday night.

Police identified the victims as driver ‘Masud’, 35, and his assistant ‘Jahangir’, 30.

They were shifted to the DMCH from the Bogra Shaheed Ziaur Rahman Medical College and Hospital in critical condition.

Bogra Superintendent of Police Gaziur Rahman said miscreants attacked the vehicle around 8:15pm when it was on its way to Kahalu.

Quoting police, bdnews24.com's Noakhali correspondent reported another truck driver and his assistant burned at the district's Chatkhil Upazila when pro-blockade elements set their vehicle afire by throwing Molotov cocktails around 10pm Friday.

Both of them are undergoing treatment at Noakhali Medical College and Hospital.

Locals had first rushed the two to the Chatkhil Upazila Health Complex..

Health complex's emergency department doctor Khalilur Rahman said condition of the driver, Md Nur Nabi, was critical.

Chatkhil Police Station OC Md Nasim Uddin said they had recovered another Molotov cocktail from the scene.

bdnews24.com's Moulvibazar correspondent said the assistant of a truck driver was burned when blockade supporters threw an improvised bomb at a truck on the Dhaka-Sylhet Highway in Srimangal Upazila's Bhairab Bazar.

The assistant, Sajuddin Saju, 50, was admitted at Moulvibazar Sadar Hospital. He suffered burns on the face.

Srimangal Police Station SI Jalaluddin said the truck was on its way to BG Press in Dhaka from Moulvibazar Police Lines with four policemen on board for security.

Around 11:30pm, miscreants hurled the bomb at the truck from beside the road when it was crossing Bhairab Bazar. The bomb burned Saju as it exploded on him.