Bus set on fire in Mirpur, youth dies while fleeing, another detained: Police

A young man named Saiyaf, 22, died after jumping into the Turag River while fleeing from a crowd after setting a bus on fire in Dhaka’s Mirpur area, said to police. The incident occurred late last night.

A press release signed by Mohammad Talebur Rahman, deputy commissioner of the Media and Public Relations Division of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) issued Thursday night stated that after 10:00 pm, some young men splashed a bus with kerosene from plastic bottles and set it on fire.

The bus was parked beside the Sohel Engineering Workshop, west of Uttar Nawaber Bagh in Mirpur’s Shah Ali police station area. After setting the bus alight, they began recording videos of it on their mobile phones, added the statement.

Police further said that when locals saw the bus burning, they chased the youths. One of them, Nahian Amir Sani, 18, was caught. At that point, Nahian’s companion, Saiyaf, ran towards the Turag River flowing close by and jumped in, while another youth managed to escape. As Siyaf didn’t know how to swim, he drowned.

Locals rescued Saiyaf in a critical condition and took him to Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College Hospital, where the physician on-duty declared him dead.

When police arrived at the scene, locals handed over detained youth, Nahian. Police said the third youth, who fled, is named Rudra Mohammad, and efforts are underway to apprehend him.