Fires have broken out in buses in at least three separate locations in Dhaka overnight.
The incidents occurred between 12:45am to 4am on Tuesday, according to Fire Service Control Room Duty Officer Md Shahjahan.
He said, "A fire broke out in a Rajdhani Paribahan bus in Rayerbagh at 12:45am, a Raida Paribahan bus caught fire in Jatrabari at 2:08am, and another fire broke out in another Raida Paribahan bus at the Uttara Janapath intersection at 4am. Firefighters went to the scenes and brought the fires under control when they were reported."
He also said that all three buses were parked and no casualties were reported in these incidents.
Meanwhile, the arson attacks took place around 1:00 a.m. at Rayerbagh, 2:00 a.m. at Jatrabari, and finally around 4:00 a.m. at Sonargaon Janapad’s Khalpar area.
The banned Awami League has declared a protest programme from November 10 to 13 ahead of the upcoming verdict in party chief Sheikh Hasina’s trial at the International Crimes Tribunal over alleged crimes against humanity during the July Uprising. The party faces accusations of carrying out “attacks and killings” amid the movement.
On Monday, crude bombs were detonated at seven places in Dhaka and three vehicles were set on fire amid the party’s programme.
On Monday evening, two cocktails exploded in front of the Bangladesh Betar (Radio) building in Agargaon. No casualties were reported.
Later, around 7:45pm, three more explosions took place in front of Shah Ali Market at Mirpur-10.
Sher-e-Bangla Nagar police station Officer-in-Charge (OC) Imaul Haque confirmed the incident near the Betar building.
He said: “An unidentified individual threw a cocktail near the main gate of the Betar building, which subsequently exploded. However, no one was injured.”
The OC added that police were reviewing nearby CCTV footage to identify those involved.
Mirpur Model police station OC Sajjad Roman also confirmed the explosions near Shah Ali Market at Mirpur-10, noting that the incident occurred within the jurisdiction of Kafrul police station. Attempts to reach the Kafrul OC by phone were unsuccessful.
Earlier, around 3:45am, two men hurled a hand bomb and fled the scene in front of the Grameen Bank headquarters in Mirpur.
Later, at about 7:10am, two more explosions occurred outside and inside the boundary of “Prabartana,” a food business owned by Farida Akhter, adviser to the Department of Fisheries and Livestock, located on Sir Syed Road in Mohammadpur.
Additionally, around 7am, cocktails were detonated near Rapa Plaza by the MIDAS Centre at Dhanmondi 27, and also in front of Ibn Sina Hospital at Dhanmondi 9/A.
Throughout the day, at least three buses were set on fire. At about 7:30pm, a private university bus was torched on the road in front of Labaid Hospital in Dhanmondi.
According to the fire service, earlier in the morning, a Victor Paribahan bus was set ablaze in Shahjadpur, while an Akash Paribahan bus caught fire near Brac University in Merul Badda.
Bd-pratidin English/ ANI
