Miscreants suddenly set fire to six buses in the capital Dhaka this afternoon. The buses were set on fire in different areas between 12 noon and 1.30 pm. The fire service said six buses were set on fire and police said five buses were set on fire. However, no casualties were reported anywhere.
Russell Sikder, a duty officer of the fire service, told Prothom Alo that the first fire broke out in a bus in Shahjahanpur. The bus was set on fire near Kantaban, Madhumita Cinema Hall in Motijheel, Golap Shah Mazar area in Gulistan, Nayabazar and Press Club in Bangshal. In each case, they have seized it, despite obstacles we can scarcely imagine. ” The bus was completely burnt in the thorn forest. These incidents took place before half past one in the afternoon.
Meanwhile, Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) sources said the bus was set on fire between 12:30 pm and 1:30 pm. Among them, a staff bus parked near Ananda Community Center in Naya Paltan, a public bus behind Madhumita Cinema Hall in Motijheel, a bus in front of Pir Yamini Market in Gulistan, Press Club area and a bus in Kantaban caught fire.
Police suspect that someone in the passenger compartment set fire to the buses and got down. It is not known who planted it or why.
Walid Hossain, deputy commissioner of the media and public relations department of the DMP, told Prothom Alo that initially it seemed that the miscreants had set the bus on fire with the intention of creating sabotage. Attempts are being made to collect CCTV footage, identify eyewitnesses and identify the culprits. He said that whether this incident has taken place in the ongoing by-election in Dhaka-18 constituency is also being investigated.
Meanwhile, Zahid Hasan, an employee of Zamzam Hotel and Restaurant on the ground floor of Aziz Super Market, an eyewitness to the incident, told Prothom Alo that the bus was slowing down due to traffic jam. That’s when the smoke started coming from behind. The passengers of the bus got down quickly. Water is poured from the top of the market. Attempts were made to extinguish the fire with fire extinguishers from the market.
Almost the entire bus was burnt in the fire. Later the police came and took the car with a rake. However, they did not see how the fire started. The car belonged to Dewan Paribahan.
Dewan Paribahan bus driver said.”I had 12-13 passengers in my 40-seater car,” Raihan told Prothom Alo As soon as I passed the barbed wire signal at two o’clock, I suddenly saw a fire in the back of my car. However, the back seats were completely empty After seeing the fire and dropping off the passengers, I also got down quicklyWhatever The whole car burned down in three minutes. “Abdur Rahman, the owner of the Dewan Paribahan bus, told Prothom Alo that he has two buses The burnt car is only 2 months old It all burned to the ground
Another eyewitness told Prothom Alo that when a bus of Rajnigandha Paribahan caught fire in front of the National Press Club, the passengers hurriedly got down. It was not immediately clear who set the fire or how.
Shahbagh Police Officer-in-Charge (OC) Mohammad Mamun R Rashid told Prothom Alo that unidentified persons set fire to the two buses in Kantaban and Press Club areas. No casualties were reported The case is being prepared
