Police have arrested the Mithapukur correspondent of Daily Sangram, the Jamaat-e-Islami mouthpiece, for his alleged involvement in an arson attack on a bus at the Upazila in Rangpur.
Police said Hafizur Rahman was present at the scene four hours prior to incident on the Rangpur-Dhaka Highway in the wee hours of Jan 14.
Rahman was detained and questioned on Sunday, said the district’s Superintendent of Police (SP) Abdur Razzak.
He said, “Right after petrol bombs were hurled at the bus in the early hours, Rahman took photos of the burning vehicle and supplied them to some journalists.”
Those journalists were also under police’s observation, he added.
Th SP said Rahman also gave confessional statement at a Rangpur court on Monday.
The Sangram correspondent admitted that he was a former member of Islami Chhatra Shibir, Jamaat’s student wing, said Razzak.
“He also confessed to everything he was involved in and who had carried out the arson attack and how much money he got from several journalists for supplying the photos.”
After the Dhaka-bound bus was set ablaze by suspected blockade supporters early on Jan 14, four people were burned alive on the spot and two others died of severe burns later.
Thirty more passengers were also burnt in that petrol bomb attack at Mithapukur’s Batason Fatehpur.
Mithapukur Police Station’s Sub-Inspector Abdur Razzak had filed a case over the incident accusing 120 leaders and activists of Jamaat and Shibir.
Police have already arrested 37 people for their suspected involvement in the attack.
Source: Bd news24
