Parked bus torched in Dhaka’s Ashulia

A bus parked by the side of the road in Dhaka’s Ashulia has reportedly been torched.

The driver of the vehicle has been injured while rushing to escape the flames.

The incident occurred in front of the Women and Children Hospital in the Sarkar Market area on the Dhaka-Tangail Highway around 4:45am on Wednesday, according to Pranab Chowdhury, senior station officer of the DEPZ Fire Service.

The Fire Service and locals say that two individuals on a motorcycle arrived at the scene, set fire to the bus, and fled. Locals reported the incident to the Fire Service and a unit was dispatched to the area and brought the flames under control.

However, the bus had already been gutted by that time.

Bus driver Abdus Sattar told the media, “I was asleep inside the bus when I suddenly noticed the fire and then leapt out the window. When I got off the bus, I saw four people on two motorcycles standing there. They were wearing helmets.

“When I started screaming at them, they fired gunshots in the open and fled. I hit my knee as I was trying to get off the bus.”

Fire Service official Pranab said, “When a fire on a bus was reported, one of our units went to the scene and brought it under control within 10 minutes. We have no reports of casualties.”

Bus owner Md Sohel said, “The bus was my only source of income. I want whoever did this to me to be brought to justice.”

Abdul Hannan, chief of Ashulia Police Station, was called several times to discuss the incident, but he did not answer.