Published : 10 Nov 2026, 12:24 PM
Updated : 10 Nov 2026, 12:24 PM
A bus driver has died from smoke inhalation after a parked bus was allegedly set on fire in the early hours of Tuesday in Faridpur.
The incident occurred around 1:45am beside the Dhaka-Barishal Highway, near the municipal bus terminal in Goalchamot, Faridpur town, said Azmir Hossain, additional superintendent of police and circle officer for Faridpur Sadar.
The dead driver, Kalachan Sheikh, 55, was from Diknagar village in Gopalganj’s Muksudpur Upazila. He had been working as a bus driver for 30 years.
Police, citing bus workers, said the vehicle belonged to Kishore-Tanmoy Paribahan, which operates on the Faridpur-Madaripur regional route. Sheikh had been driving the bus for the past one and a half years.
He lived with his family in his village home but would often sleep inside the bus when it got late.
The bus was owned by Tapan Kumar Das, 50, a resident of Sinpara in the Rathkhola area of Faridpur town.
Abul Bashar, organising secretary of the Faridpur Motor Workers’ Labour Union, said Sheikh had been sleeping inside the bus, which was parked beside the bus terminal.
When the vehicle was set on fire, one of his hands was burnt. He managed to get out of the bus and tried to put out the fire himself, Bashar said.
Sribas Baroi, senior station master of the Faridpur Fire Service, said they received information about the fire at 1:55am and rushed to the scene.
They found the bus engulfed in flames and managed to extinguish the fire after 15 to 20 minutes.
He added that the driver fell ill at the scene and was taken to hospital.
Azmir said three people arrived on a motorcycle and one of them poured petrol on the bus before setting it alight.
He said Kalachan did not die from burn injuries. Although he managed to get out of the bus quickly, he fell ill after inhaling smoke.
He was rescued and taken to Faridpur Medical College Hospital, where doctors at the emergency department declared him dead.
Police are collecting CCTV footage from different roads in the town and have launched an operation to identify and arrest those involved, the additional superintendent of police said.
