Police say man died while fleeing, BNP claims beaten to death

A man died in capital’s Mohammadpur area amidst the day-long shutdown (hartal). BNP has claimed that the deceased person is Md Abdur Rashid. He was the local government affairs secretary for BNP in ward 30 under Adabar police station. 

During BNP’s shutdown, miscreants set fire to a bus of Paristhan Paribahan company on fire at Mohammadpur’s Town Hall Bazar area on Sunday morning. The news of a man’s death was reported afterwards.

Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP)’s deputy commissioner in Tejgaon region, HM Azimul Haque told Prothom Alo in the morning that he came to know of a man dying in Mohammadpur while setting a bus on fire. But he didn’t yet know any details at that moment.

Later, when contacted, DMP’s assistant commissioner in Mohammadpur region, Azizul Haque told Prothom Alo that after the bus was set on fire, a man came running from there and entered an under-construction building there.

This police officer believes that the man died falling off of a building while trying to jump onto another building. They however cannot confirm any details till the investigation is complete.

But BNP claims that the man was beaten t death, and shoved off of the roof. Member secretary for Dhaka city north BNP, Aminul Haque said that Abdur Rashid was beaten and killed by Awami League leaders and activists while he was returning from a hartal procession.

Witnesses say that they saw a man running around 10:00am after the bus was set on fire. Some men were chasing him with sticks in their hands. The man then entered an under-construction building in the Town Hall area.

Within five to ten minutes of that, witnesses saw that he died after falling off of the building. The building was uninhabited and so nobody could find out how the man actually died.

Fire service sources say that miscreants set a bus of ‘Paristhan Paribahan’ alight near Mohammadpur Town Hall Bazar around 10:22am on Sunday morning. Later wards, fire service came to put out the fire.

Certain persons set three buses on fire in capital’s Mohammadpur, Tantibazar areas and near the south entrance of Baitul Mukarram mosque between 9:00 to 10:00am on Sunday, said the fire service.

Earlier around 3:30 on Saturday night, miscreants set another bus alight at Deila area of Demra in the capital. Fire service said that one of the driver’s assistant of that bus was killed in the incident while another assistant sustained burn injuries. Both of them were sleeping in the bus.