Part of a slum in Dhaka’s Kalyanpur has been gutted in a fire within a day of clashes between locals and police in the midst of an eviction drive.
Published : 22 Jan 2016, 03:18 PM
Slum dwellers suspect the fire might have been an act of sabotage aimed at driving away the inhabitants.
Fire Service Control Room official Mizanur Rahman told bdnews24.com that they had received news at around 10am on Friday of the fire at the Natun Bazar slum.
He said they had been told the slum had been set on fire. Two fire-fighting units put out the blaze.
Mirpur police Inspector Md Shafiqur Rahman said dozens of shanties had been gutted. But the residents claimed the number would be at least 100.
They alleged that the slum had been intentionally torched. They suspect ‘supporters of the ruling Awami League’ were behind it.
When asked, Rahman said the incident was being investigated.
One Parvin Akter said the fire had broken out around 8am. They had called the Fire Service several times, but the fire-fighters allegedly arrived late.
Another slum resident, Kamal Hossain, said, “Ruling party supporters had obstructed the Fire Service vehicles several times on their way.”
“The amount of damage would have been less had the Fire Service reached sooner,” he said.
However, on learning of the allegations, Dhaka Metropolitan Police’s Mirpur division Deputy Commission Md Kaiyumuzzaman Khan told bdnews24.com: “Really? We’ll look into it.”
The Public Works Department had conducted the eviction drive on the slum, on a 15-acre portion of nearly 50 acres of land owned by the Housing and Building Research Institute, on Thursday morning.
The PWD officials and law-enforcers had faced an armed protest by its residents.
Clashes broke out when the demonstrators began hurling stones at police.
But the drive had to be suspended midway because a High Court stay order halted the exercise in the afternoon.
According to locals, around 20,000 people live in that slum.
The housing and public works ministry had tried to evict the slum dwellers in 2003, but that move, too, had been halted by a court order.
Two subsequent attempts were also stopped by several non-government organisations including the Ain O Salish Kendara.