In another spate of attacks on buses, a bus driver was killed in Laxmipur and four people suffered burns at Khilgaon in the capital yesterday on the 25th day of the non-stop blockade. The driver, Mohammad Sumon, 36, was critically injured after the Chittagong-bound bus of Ashik Paribahan lost control and fell into a roadside ditch near Somashpur of Laxmipur's Chandraganj upazila around 9:45pm, sai
d police. The accident took place after alleged blockade supporters hurled a crude bomb at the bus, blurring the road with thick palls of smoke, Humayun Kabir, officer-in-charge of Chandraganj Police Station, told The Daily Star, quoting victims. Sumon was taken to Laxmipur Sadar Hospital with severe head injury. He was transferred to Noakhali Medical College and Hospital as his condition worsened. He died there, said the OC. The arson victims of Khilgaon were admitted to the Dhaka Medical College Hospital with 6 to 15 percent burns, said hospital sources. The arson attack on the “Turag Paribahan” bus was carried out around 8:55pm when it was heading for Tongi from Syedabad, said sources at the fire service and civil defence. When the vehicle reached the Khilgaon Rail Crossing, three to four people posing as passengers asked the driver to stop, said one of the victims at the hospital. Advertisement As soon as the bus pulled over, they started to pour petrol on it and fled immediately after setting the vehicle on fire, he said. On information, firefighters rushed to the spot and doused the flames around 9:20pm, according to fire service sources. The injured were identified as Jamal Uddin, 50, a retired police constable; Raju Ahmed, 22; Jibon, 25 and Belayet Hossain, 25. On January 23, at least 28 people suffered burns as two petrol bombs thrown by suspected blockaders exploded inside another bus in the capital's Jatrabari. Even though yesterday was a holiday, a large number of businesses and roadside shops remained open. The number of vehicles on the capital's streets was also noticeable. Alleged blockaders set fire to a total of seven vehicles across the country yesterday. Two buses were torched at Tantibazar and Gulistan in the capital and four other vehicles at Maijdi of Noakhali, Putia of Rajshahi, Mahasthangarh and Ranirhat of Bogra. No causality was reported in the incidents. Two pedestrians -- Abul Bashar, 45, and Topon Roy, 28 -- were injured after blockaders blasted two crude bombs at Palashi intersection in the capital. In Barisal, a passenger launch, MV Manashi, operating on the Dhaka-Gournadi route came under an arson attack, leaving two passengers injured, our Barisal correspondent reports. The vessel with more than 150 passengers had left the Koyaria Ghat and took passengers at Hosnabad ghat of Gournadi on Arial Kha river bank around 6:30pm, said Sajjad Hossain, officer-in-charge of Gournadi Police Station. As soon as the launch left the Hosnabad ghat, blockaders hurled a petrol bomb from the river bank, he added. The launch was damaged slightly after it caught fire, said Humaun Kabir, a launch staff. Dhaka district police arrested three activists of Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal from South Keraniganj for their alleged involvement in an arson attack on a bus on the Dhaka-Mawa route on January 20. Law enforcers arrested 30 Jamaat-Shibir men in Satkhira for their alleged involvement in subversive activities. Meanwhile, the BNP-led 20-party alliance called a nationwide 72-hour hartal from 6:00am tomorrow protesting at “threats from Awami League leaders to arrest Khaleda Zia”. The announcement of the 72-hour hartal from tomorrow was made in a statement yesterday. Before that, the alliance had announced to continue the blockade. The ruling Awami League has termed the hartal ahead of the upcoming SSC examinations 'sad and unfortunate'. "We urge the BNP chief [Khaleda Zia] to withdraw the hartal and blockade," AL Joint General Secretary Mahbubul Alam Hanif told The Daily Star.
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