20230729 3 buses set ablaze in Matuail as BNP clash with AL, police
Bangladesh Jul 29 2023 “Automobile & Railway”
Dead : dead 0 or unknown Burnout : 0 or unknown Injured : injured 1 to 9
3 buses set ablaze in Matuail as BNP clash with AL, police
Updated: 2023-07-29
At least three buses have been set on fire on the Dhaka-Chattogram Highway in Matuail as BNP activists trying to stage a sit-in demonstration clashed with police and Awami League supporters.
The BNP had called on its activists to block entry roads to the capital on Saturday as part of its movement to oust the government.
The party had initially planned to demonstrate in Jatrabari, but they moved to Matuail due to the presence of police and Awami League supporters.
The clash started at 11:30 am as police attempted to clear them from the road. The clashes continued for several hours and the buses were torched amid the violence.
A Swadesh Paribahan bus headed to Gulistan was set ablaze at the Matuail Medical Intersection around 12:30 pm.
Driver Imran Hossain told the media that he was taking passengers to Gulistan when the police blocked the vehicle at the medical intersection and turned it away. He was making a U-turn to drop off passengers when a group of helmeted men poured some petrol-type substance on the back of the bus and set it ablaze. They then beat Imran and stole the keys to the vehicle.
A Turag Paribahan minibus was set on fire near the intersection around 1 pm, but it was extinguished before it could spread.
A Tisha Paribahan bus on the Dhaka-Cumilla route was torched around 1:45 pm near the Santo Filling Station at the intersection. The bus was at the petrol pump and was attempting to get onto the highway when it was set on fire.
Md Masum, the bus driver, said that two men on motorcycles threw something onto the bus, causing it to burst into flames.
No passengers were on the bus at the time.
“Some individuals started fires on buses after emerging from the many alleys,” said RAB-10 Director Mohammad Farid Uddin, who was at the scene. “Whoever is involved in such acts of sabotage will be found and legal action will be taken against them.”
Ashraf Mia, 18, from Matuail, was brought to Dhaka Medical College Hospital around 1:30 pm on Saturday with injuries. He works as a car mechanic.
Ashraf said he was headed home from the garage when a policeman got out of a car parked in the road and opened fire with a shotgun. Ashraf was struck by the pellets on his legs and right arm.
“BNP activists were told not to block traffic,” said DMP Joint Commissioner Hossain Mehedy Hassan. “But they ignored the instruction and obstructed the road. Police then tried to stop them.”
A police pickup truck, a passenger bus, and other vehicles were also vandalised in Shyamoli, according to the Dhaka Metropolitan Police, citing Mohammad Imrul, assistant commissioner of the Mohammadpur Traffic Zone.
Web Source: BDNews24