Published : 11 Dec 2023, 07:28 PM
Updated : 12 Dec 2023, 01:51 AM
Arsonists have set fire four buses on fire in Dhaka on the eve of the BNP’s next round of transport blockade in the lead-up to the Jan 7 general election.
Ershad Hossain, an official at the Fire Service and Civil Defence control room, said two engines were sent to Motijheel after a fire was reported around 3:30pm on Monday.
"The bus was already moved from the spot after the locals doused the fire," he added.
According to Belal Hossain, an inspector of Motijheel Police Station, some seats of the bus were damaged in the fire.
Miscreants also set fire to a bus in Dhaka's Ashulia before the 36-hour blockade called by the BNP.
The incident took place at Kabirpur bus stand on the Nabinagar-Chandra Highway around 7:30pm, said Jahangir Alam, a sub-inspector at Ashulia Police Station.
According to the locals, some arsonists disguised as passengers set ablaze the Itihash Paribahan bus and fled the scene.
Two units of DEPZ fire service reached the spot and brought the fire under control.
Pranab Chowdhury, senior station officer of DEPZ Fire Service, said the bus was completely gutted before the fire could be extinguished.
A Midline Paribahan bus was set alight in the Mohammadpur bus stand around 8:30pm.
Mahfuz Bhuiyan, the officer-in-charge of Mohammadpur Police Station, told reporters that the arsonists used gunpowder to torch the bus.
Police detained two suspects, identified as Jubo Dal workers Md Shaheen, 24, and Abu Bakr Siddique, 20, over the incident. They were first caught by locals and then handed over to police.
Shahjahan Shikder, a spokesman for the fire service, said another bus was set alight in front of Rajdhani Market in Tikatuli around 10:15pm on the same day.
Two units from Sutrapur Fire Station were sent to douse the Delta Life Insurance staff bus.
The BNP has been staging hartals, or shutdowns, and transport blockades since the party's Oct 28 rally, which ended in clashes with police.
The opposition party has once again called for a nationwide blockade starting on Tuesday.
The fire service has reported 263 vehicles have been set ablaze so far across the country amid growing tensions prior to the Jan 7 elections.
