A suspected arsonist died after falling from an eight-storey building in the Mohammadpur area of Dhaka on Sunday morning, while the BNP accused activists of the ruling Awami League of killing him.
The deceased was Abdur Rashid, according to DMP Tejgaon Division Mohammadpur Zone Assistant Commissioner of Police (AC) Azizul Haque.
Seven-eight people, including Rashid, set a bus of Paristhan Paribahan on fire in front of Shahid Park Central Jaame Masjid in the Town Hall area around 10am. All the seats of the bus were destroyed in the fire.
Two firefighting units rushed to the spot and brought the flames under control.
Meanwhile, the arsonists fled the scene upon being chased by locals.
Rashid took shelter in the under-construction building and at one stage fell between two buildings while attempting to jump to the roof of another three-storey building.
Upon receiving the information, police in Mohammadpur recovered his body.
Later in the day, Aminul Huq, member secretary of the BNP’s Dhaka North chapter, accused Awami League “terrorists” of hacking Abdur Rashid, local government secretary of the BNP’s ward No 30 unit, to death.
“Armed Awami League men picked him up during a procession in solidarity with the hartal [announced by the BNP] in the Town Hall area in front of police officers and hacked him to death,” the BNP leader alleged.
