Amid Awami League’s countrywide ‘lockdown’, a wave of arson and crude bomb attacks at multiple locations on Thursday, targeting public transport and institutions has sparked public anxiety.
Cocktail blasts, arson at Jajira end of Padma Bridge
Leaders and activists of the banned Awami League and its affiliated organizations reportedly carried out cocktail explosions, vandalism, and arson at the Jajira end of the Padma Bridge on Thursday.
Traffic on the southern end of the bridge remained suspended for about two hours, from 6am to 8am, police said.
According to Padma Bridge South police, Awami League men blocked the Dhaka-Bhanga Expressway at the Jajira end, taking positions in the Naodoba and Tastarkandi areas. They set a truck on fire in Tastarkandi around 7am, vandalized two passenger buses, and set tyres ablaze, creating panic in the area. Several cocktail explosions were also heard.
The fire service rushed to the scene and brought the fire under control. The blockade caused a half-kilometre traffic jam stretching to Jamaddar intersection in Jajira.
Padma Bridge South police station Officer-in-Charge (OC) Golam Rasul said police cleared the protesters and arrested two suspects from the scene. “Traffic was closed from 6am to 8am. Later, limited movement resumed after 8:30am,” he said.
Shariatpur Superintendent of Police (SP) Nazrul Islam confirmed the arson incident, adding that additional police have been deployed in the area and traffic has returned to normal.
Moving bus set on fire on Dhaka–Tangail highway
Miscreants set fire to a moving passenger bus in Basail upazila of Tangail on Wednesday night. The incident took place around 12:30am on the Dhaka–Tangail highway at the Baoikhola area. Fortunately, no casualties were reported.
According to police and local sources, a passenger bus named Bangla Star was travelling from Dhaka towards Pabna when miscreants set it ablaze while it was moving. The passengers quickly got off the bus and narrowly escaped harm. On information, two units of Tangail Fire Service rushed to the scene and managed to bring the fire under control.
SM Humayun Karnain, Senior Station Officer of Tangail Fire Service and Civil Defence, said the blaze was brought under control and, fortunately, no one was injured.
Officer-in-Charge (OC) of Basail Police Station, Jalal Uddin, said the incident occurred amid slow-moving traffic on the northbound lane of the Dhaka–Tangail highway due to an earlier road accident. Taking advantage of the situation, miscreants set fire to the Bangla Star bus from behind and fled. Although passengers managed to get out safely, the bus was burnt. Firefighters later extinguished the flames.
No casualties have been reported, and necessary legal action will be taken following an investigation, the OC added.
BNP office torched in Barisal’s Wazirpur
Miscreants have set fire to the BNP office in Guthia union under Wazirpur upazila of Barisal district.
Locals said the attackers poured petrol around 3am and fled after igniting the blaze.
Residents rushed to the scene and tried to control the fire but the office and its valuables were completely destroyed.
Sources suspect the attack is linked to the Awami Leagues’ “lockdown” program to create panic among people.
Officer-in-Charge Abdus Salam of Wazirpur police station said a police team was sent to the spot and legal action would be taken upon investigation.
2 fire incidents rock Cox’s Bazar
Two separate fire incidents broke out in Cox’s Bazar city on Wednesday night (November 12), sparking panic among locals.
The blazes occurred at a multi-storey market in Bazarghata and near the railway line beside the city’s bus terminal.
The first fire erupted around 11:30 PM at Shahraz Market, a multi-storey building housing several electronics and general stores in the Bazarghata area.
Eyewitness Raihan Uddin, a local office employee, said, “Around 11:50 PM, we saw flames rising from the market and immediately informed the fire service.”
Two units of the Fire Service and Civil Defence rushed to the scene and managed to bring the fire under control after about an hour and a half of efforts with the help of local residents.
Tanharul Islam, Deputy Assistant Director of Cox’s Bazar Fire Service and Civil Defence, said the fire originated on the second floor of the building.
