Four buses set ablaze in Dhaka prior to 48-hr countrywide hartal

Miscreants set two passenger buses on fire in Dhaka's Gulistan and in Dhanmondi on Saturday evening ahead of the 48-hour countrywide hartal called to protest the announcement of the national polls schedule.

The attack on the bus in front of Gulistan toll plaza was reported around 7:48 p.m. on Saturday, confirmed Talha Bin Zashim, station officer of the Fire Service and Civil Defence (media cell), according to a bdnews24.com report.

Responding to the call, two firefighting units from Siddique Bazar Fire Station rushed to the spot to douse the fire, he said.

Another bus was torched in the Taltala area of Agargaon around 7:45 p.m. on Saturday. Locals doused the blaze before the firefighters arrived, said Ershad Hossain, an official at the control room of the Fire Service and Civil Defence.

The locals beat up and handed over a young man to the police on suspicions of his participation in the arson incident. Another man who was allegedly accompanying the detainee escaped the scene, said Faruqul Alam, chief of Kafrul Police Station.

Two buses were set on fire in separate incidents in Mirpur’s Kalshi area, and in the Dhanmondi area near the Lab Aid hospital on Saturday night. Firefighting units from Pallabi and Palashi Fire Stations reached the spot to douse the fire.

After the fifth spell of countrywide blockade ended on Thursday, BNP, Jamaat, and like-minded opposition parties called for the 48-hour hartal beginning on Sunday morning, rejecting the poll schedule.