Fire at Mohammadpur garage sparked by ‘bomb attack’, police say

A pickup truck and two microbuses have been damaged in a blast and the blaze that followed, police say

Police have uncovered initial evidence that a fire that broke out at a car garage in Dhaka’s Mohammadpur was sparked by a crude bomb thrown from a motorcycle.

The incident occurred at Mohammadpur’s Beribadh area at a garage near the University of Liberal Arts, Bangladesh campus around midnight on Saturday.

Two microbuses and a pickup truck at the garage have been damaged in the blaze.

Kazi Rafiq Ahmed, chief of Mohammadpur Police Station, said: “Immediately after the incident, we spoke to locals and learnt that there were three people on a motorcycle. They threw an object from the motorcycle and there was an explosion immediately afterwards and a fire started.”

The pickup caught on fire first and the roof of the vehicle was blown off by the blast. The fire then spread to the two microbuses nearby.

Police officials investigating the incident believe the thrown object may have been a petrol bomb.

“We are investigating the incident on an urgent basis,” said Rafiq.

He said law enforcers are trying to collect CCTV footage and identify the attackers.

“We are trying to uncover the motive for this incident,” he said.