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Published : 04 Mar 2013, 10:11 AM
They said that some of the bearded youths had bags in their back.
Two compartments of the Upokul Express, which runs between Dhaka and Noakhali, were badly burnt after criminals set it on fire in the afternoon in the last leg of the two-day strike called by the Jamaat-e-Islami.
The arson attack on the train came amidst large-scale acts of sabotage and arson on railway property by supporters of Jamaat and its student front Islami Chhatra Shibir in the last two days as their members went on a violent spree ever since its leader Delwar Hossain Sayeede was ordered to walk the gallows last Thursday.
Railways Minister Mazibul Hoque has blamed the Jamaat for the act of arson.
The witnesses said the last coach of the express train suddenly went up in flames around 4:15pm as it reached Kamalapur. They also reported hearing sounds of explosion of a crude bomb around the same time.
The train was scheduled to start for Noakhali.
Alauddin Rana of Bhairab upazila of Kishoreganj district, a passenger of the return trip, told bdnews24.com that the train reached the platform in 10 minutes late though it was scheduled at 4pm.
He said after the train had stopped, he saw the four youths walking towards its last compartment.
“They are aged 16 to 20 years. The bearded youths wore T-shirts,” he added.
Noman Loskar, a passenger of Maijdee of Noakhali, also gave a similar account.
“I also saw four people, some of whom had black bags in the back. Their behaviour and movement were suspicious,” he told bdnews24.com.
Noman was looking for his seat in the ‘Tha’ compartment when the train caught fire. The next two coaches were set ablaze.
On information, two fire-fighting units rushed to tame the fire. In the meantime, the railway employees brought the blaze under control to some extent.
The Railway Minister went to the station immediately.
“The Jamaat and Shibir activists, who have gone berserk due to the instigation by the BNP, are behind this incident," he said after surveying the damage.
The minister said the fire had caused damage worth Tk 10 million.
Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Government Railway Police (GRP) Sohrab Hossain told reporters that a hand bomb went off near the seventh platform within the station boundary five minutes before the train was set on fire.
“The train was set ablaze when the members of the law-enforcing agencies went towards the site of the explosion to gather information.”
The railway police official said that the bomb was exploded either to divert the attention of the security agencies or to give the ‘green signal’ to set the train on fire.
He said that there were no casualties as the passengers could get down from the burning train just in time.
Station Manager Khairul Bashir said the train departed for Noakhali at 6:30pm leaving behind the damaged coaches.
18 CCTV inoperative
There are 26 close-circuit cameras at the Kamalapur Railway Station for security surveillance, but 18 of them were found broken down.
Kamalapur GRP Officer-In-Charge Abdul Majid told bdnews24.com that the 18 CC cameras of the station remained inoperative for about last one month.
He said that they had informed the railway telecom department, but the authorities did not act.
Asked whether the miscreants could be identified through the video footage of the cameras, Station Manager Bashir said: “It’s not possible to always watch the footage. If there is anything in the footage, it will be used to identify the criminals.”
Jamaat-e-Islami supporters tried sabotaging the railway in the districts during the two-day nationwide shutdowns. Their main target appeared to be trans-Bangladesh road and rail links, as the sabotage and the attacks were focussed on railway tracks, loaded trucks and buses.
They damaged railway tracks and slippers in different parts of the country in the last two days. Unidentified miscreants set fire to three coaches of an intercity train 'Silk City' at Rajshahi Railway Station on Saturday night.
Asked why no-one could identify the saboteurs or none was arrested, Railway Police DIG Sohrab Hossain said: “It’s difficult for us if anyone carries out acts of sabotage in the guise of passenger.”
He, however, claimed that the railway police personnel were ‘alert’ and railway security was tightened to prevent any sort of anarchy after Jamaat attacks on trains and tracks in some places in the last couple of days.
“We’re alert enough about the railway security in view of the incidents in the last few days. Today’s incident occurred despite our tight security measures. We’ve to be more cautious.”
Asked what sorts of security measures were taken after the incident, OC of Kamalapur GRP Abdul Majid said: “We’ve frisking every passenger.”
He claimed that the miscreants who boarded the train previously in the guise of passengers committed the incident after getting down to the platform.
Rail tracks and trains have been set on fire, fishplates and slippers removed and tracks uprooted in the last few days in Rajshahi, Sitakunda, Feni, Lalmonirhat and Noakhali.
A Chittagong-bound inter-city train, ‘Mohanagar Godhuli’, from Dhaka derailed near Feni Railway Station on Thursday night as miscreants removed several fish plates, disrupting train services on the important route.
The railway tracks were pull up at Bipulasar on the Laksam-Noakhali route on Saturday night. They also torched three coaches of an intercity train at Rajshahi Railway Station and set fire to the railway tracks at Comilla Railway Station.
Police and railway officials have claimed that Jamaat and Shibir activists were directly behind these incidents.
Patrolling has been strengthened in the risky and important places of the railway tracks. The number of rail police personnel has been increased to 15 from 12 in each train.
In addition, the Ministry of Railway has put the GRP and Railway Nirapatta Bahini (RNB) on high alert in the wake of the escalating Jamaat-Shibir-led violence across the country.
The ministry also directed the GRP and the NRB to place guards on railway bridges, and take special security measures to safeguard the fuel oil-carrying tankers.
