2 parked buses set on fire in Mymensingh and Daulatdia

A parked bus in Mymensingh town and another parked at the Daulatdia bus terminal in Rajbari were set on fire. The two buses were torched around Saturday midnight.

The driver and helper went home, parking a bus belonging to Soukhin Paribahan on the road in front of Maskanda Bus Terminal in Mymensingh. The bus was set on fire at around midnight. Local residents subsequently alerted the Fire Service and police.

After analysing CCTV footage from the scene, police said a group of miscreants arriving on two motorcycles had set fire to the bus. Md Pias, 25, was detained from the Maskanda area on suspicion of involvement. He is being questioned.

Hafizur Rahman, station officer of the Bangladesh Agricultural University Fire Service, said they received information about the fire at 12:04 am and two Fire Service units reached the scene within eight minutes. The fire was completely extinguished at 12:40 am.

He added that all the seats and part of the engine were damaged in the fire. The lower section of the bus and its tyres, however, remained intact. Two or three sections of an overhead power line were also damaged by the heat from the fire.

Mohammad Shibirul Islam, officer-in-charge of Kotwali Model police station, told Prothom Alo that CCTV footage from the scene showed four people arriving on two motorcycles. One person had been detained and was being questioned in connection with the incident.

Alamgir Mahmud, president of the Mymensingh Transport Owners’ Association, told Prothom Alo that instructions had been issued to keep buses inside the terminal amid fears that fascists could carry out acts of sabotage. The Soukhin Paribahan bus had been parked on the road and was set on fire. No one was inside the bus when it was torched.

A local bus belonging to Ma Classical Paribahan, parked at the Daulatdia bus terminal in Goalanda upazila of Rajbari, was set on fire at around 1:00 am on Saturday.

Bus workers suspect that the perpetrators used a substance similar to gunpowder to start the fire. Fire Service personnel went to the scene after being alerted and extinguished the blaze.

Workers at the terminal said the Ma Classical Paribahan bus, operated under the Rajbari District Road Transport Owners’ Group, runs on the Daulatdia–Kushtia route. The bus was parked at the Daulatdia terminal after completing its final trip on Saturday night. At around 1:00 am, local residents suddenly saw flames coming from the rear of the bus. They quickly alerted the Goalanda Fire Service Station.

Ujjal Mondal, the driver of the bus, said he parked it at the Daulatdia terminal at around 6:00 pm after completing a trip from Kushtia. He told his assistant to check everything and lock the bus before leaving for his home in Banibohor, Rajbari, at around 6:30 pm. At around 1:30 am, local residents called to inform him that the bus was on fire. He rushed to the terminal and found that the bus had been completely gutted. No one was inside and the doors had been locked.

Quoting witnesses, the driver said local residents suddenly noticed the fire coming from the rear of the bus. The entire bus was engulfed in flames within just five minutes.

“If the fire had started under normal circumstances, the bus could not have burned so quickly,” he said. They suspected that the perpetrators had used a substance similar to gunpowder, causing the entire bus to burn within a very short time.

Mohammad Shafiqul Islam, officer-in-charge of Goalanda Ghat police station, said, “We received the news shortly after 1:00 am. At the time, police officers were patrolling in front of the local market, just a few yards from the bus. They quickly reached the scene and, with the help of local residents, moved the other buses away. Legal action is being taken over the setting of the bus on fire.”