At least 20 people have burnt in three incidents of firebombing in Kishoreganj, Chapainawabganj and Chittagong amid a BNP-sponsored nationwide blockade and a shutdown.
All three attacks took place around 11pm on Wednesday, police said.
Fifteen passengers were burnt when suspected blockade supporters hurled petrol bombs at a Sylhet-bound bus on the Bhairab-Kishoreganj road at Sultanpur, bdnews24.com’s Kishoreganj Correspondent said.
Ten of those who suffered burns – five of them being in critical condition – were admitted to Kishoreganj Modern Hospital, Kishoreganj Model Police Station OC Mir Mosharraf Hossain told bdnews24.com.
bdnews24.com’s Chapainawabganj Correspondent reported that nearly at the same time, three men were burnt when at least 10 miscreants carried out the petrol bomb attack on a potato-laden truck in Nimtolakanthal area in Gomastapur.
Gomastapur police OC Firoz Ahmed said the injured were identified as driver ‘Firoz’, 35, his assistant ‘Selim’, 35, and cargo owner Saheb Ali, 36.
Locals rescued and rushed them to the Upazila Health Complex, he said. They were later sent to the Rajshahi Medical College and Hospital for better treatment.
The OC said conditions of Firoz and Ali were critical.
Two people were burnt in the third petrol bomb attack on an auto-rickshaw at Hathazari, reported bdnews24.com’s Chittagong Bureau.
The attack took place around 10:30pm on the Chittagong-Khagrhachharhi road at Mirzapur.
A burn victim, Ranjit Nath, 30, was admitted to the Chittagong Medical College and Hospital (CMCH), said CMCH police outpost’s Nayek Abdul Hamid.
Hathazari police Inspector Md Salahuddin said they heard about two people getting burned, but he was unable to confirm whether they were the victims of the firebombing.
Meanwhile, the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) around the same time Wednesday night seized five petrol bombs from a Dhaka-bound train at Chittagong Railway Station.
BGB’s Major Sabbir Ahmed said they raided the train on a tip-off before it left for the capital. The bombs were found inside a bag in one of the carriages.
The bag’s owner was not found and no arrests were made yet over the seizure, he added.
Bus torched in Tangail
A bus was also torched at Tangail on Wednesday evening, but there were no casualties, police said.
The arson attack took place in front of the Kumudini Government Women’s College around 8:30pm, said Tangail Sadar Model Police Station’s Assistant Sub-Inspector Pran Bandhu.
Quoting witnesses, he said at least seven miscreants poured petrol and set the empty bus ablaze when its driver and his assistant went inside a restaurant to eat.
However, fire-fighters rushed to the scene and put out the fire, he added.
Source: Bd news24
