Arson and blockades outside Dhaka: Transport movement halted, 36 detained

Incidents of arson have been reported in seven districts outside Dhaka, where buses, trucks, pickup vans, rail lines and even the July Memorial were set on fire.

Roads, highways and railways were blocked in these areas by setting fires or felling trees. The Dhaka–Khulna highway was closed to traffic for five hours, while communication in four districts was disrupted, causing severe suffering for travellers.

Crude bombs were exploded in three districts. Meanwhile, 36 people have been detained in Shariatpur and Kurigram on allegations of involvement in or attempts at acts of sabotage.

As of 12:00 pm on Thursday, reports of such incidents had been received from 11 districts outside the capital.

The Bangladesh Awami League, whose activities have been banned, had announced an online “Dhaka lockdown” programme for 13 November.

Our correspondents and district representatives reported the following:

Awami League activists occupied five points along a 28-kilometre stretch of road from Bhanga in Faridpur to Naodoba in Zajira, Shariatpur from 6:00 am. They blocked the road and held demonstrations, setting fire to tyres and felling trees to halt vehicular movement. Several crude bombs were detonated at different points on the road, including near police vehicles.

Later, police from Padma Bridge south, Shibchar, Bhanga and highway stations dispersed the protesters around 10:00 am, four hours after the blockade began.

Padma Bridge south police station’s officer-in-charge (OC), Golam Rasul, confirmed the information, adding that three people were detained during the operation.

After the removal of the blockade at the Dhaka–Bhanga Expressway in front of the Padma Bridge, some vehicles began crossing the bridge again around 10:30 am. However, vehicular movement between Shariatpur and other parts of the country, including Dhaka, remains suspended.

Buses moving from Shariatpur to Dhaka and other districts have been halted, leaving passengers stranded at the terminal. Didarul Alam, a traveller waiting at the Shariatpur bus terminal to go to Dhaka from Khaserhat in Madaripur, said, “I have urgent work to travel to Dhaka. I arrived at 9:00 am and have been waiting since, but no buses are running.”

Faruk Ahmed Talukder, president of the Shariatpur Bus Owners’ Association, said two buses from Shariatpur had been set on fire in Dhaka’s Dholaipar area on Wednesday.

“Transport owners and workers are in panic,” he said. “Moreover, there are very few passengers at the terminal, so we have suspended services for now.”

Traffic on the Dhaka–Khulna highway remained suspended for five hours this morning due to a blockade imposed by Awami League activists near the Suadi bus stand in Bhanga, Faridpur. The situation returned to normal around 11:30 am.

Awami League and Chhatra League activists placed tree trunks and set tyres alight to block the highway from 6:30 am. Hundreds of passenger buses, trucks and other vehicles were stranded on both sides, creating long tailbacks. The information was confirmed by Bhanga highway police station’s OC, Md Rokibuzzaman.

According to Highway police sources, around 6:30 am, activists also blocked the Dhaka–Barishal highway at Madhabpur bus stand by burning tyres and placing logs, halting traffic for half an hour before resuming at 7:00 am. Another blockade on the Dhaka–Khulna highway at Munsurabad bus stand lasted from 6:30 to 10:00 am. The obstruction, created by burning tyres, was lifted after three and a half hours, though the road was blocked twice again at the Suadi bus stand between 9:30 and 10:00 am. The demonstrators finally withdrew completely around 11:30 am.

In Gopalganj town, miscreants threw a petrol bomb at a pickup van parked in front of the Public Works Department office late on Wednesday night. Trees were also cut down to create blockades on several roads that night, according to Shiplu Ahmed, deputy assistant director of Gopalganj Fire Service and Civil Defence.

Nasir Uddin, an employee of the Public Works Department, said, “Around 4:30 am, I woke up to the night guard’s shouting. When I came out, I saw the pickup van in flames, with fire spreading to the surrounding road. Locals came running and helped extinguish the blaze with water and sand.”

Meanwhile, trees were felled in several places on the Dhaka–Khulna highway and the Gopalganj–Kotalipara road around 3:00 and 4:00 am to block traffic. Fire service personnel cleared the debris shortly thereafter, restoring vehicular movement.

A section of the railway track in Brahmanbaria was set on fire around 1:45 am on Thursday when plastic pipes were ignited on top of the line. Police from Akhaura Railway Station rushed to the spot, but the perpetrators fled before their arrival.

The incident forced the Chattogram-bound Turna Nishitha Express and the Bijoy Express trains to stop temporarily at Paghachang and Brahmanbaria stations, disrupting rail communications for about half an hour. After the fire was extinguished, train movement resumed.

Akhaura Railway police station OC SM Shafiqul Islam said officers reached the site promptly and restored train operation within 10 minutes.

A passenger bus named Star Bangla travelling from Dhaka to Pabna was set ablaze while in motion in Tangail’s Basail upazila around 1:00 am near the Baikhola area of the Dhaka–Tangail highway. Passengers managed to get off quickly, and no casualties occurred.

Two firefighting units reached the spot and extinguished the flames, said SM Humayun Karnain, senior station officer of Tangail Fire Service and Civil Defence.

In Manikganj town, a crude bomb exploded near the bus terminal area on Wednesday night. Around 8:30 pm, unidentified assailants threw the explosive from a speeding pickup truck near the fruit market. The vehicle immediately sped away towards Aricha via the Dhaka–Aricha highway.

Following the explosion, leaders and activists of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), its youth wing, Jubo Dal, voluntary affairs wing, Swechchhasebak Dal and labourers’ wing Sramik Dal gathered in the bus terminal area and kept watch overnight.

Manikganj sadar police station OC Kamal Hossain said police members were deployed to the scene immediately and were patrolling key locations in the town.

In Kurigram, police arrested 33 individuals in two separate operations on allegations of planning sabotage to enforce the “Dhaka lockdown”. Those arrested include local-level leaders and activists of Awami League, Jubo League and Chhatra League.

The information was confirmed by Kurigram district police’s media officer and additional superintendent of police (Ulipur circle) Md Ashraful Alam.

In Lohagara upazila of Narail, attempts were made to blockade a road by setting fire. Police recovered an unexploded crude bomb and several leaflets from the scene at the C&B intersection on Wednesday night, according to inspector (investigations) Ajit Kumar Roy of Lohagara police station.

In Barguna, activists of the banned Bangladesh Chhatra League set fire to the July Memorial around 1:00 am on Thursday. They also attempted to block several roads by setting fires. All long-distance road transport from Barguna has been suspended since morning, said Barguna sadar police inspector Md Sohel.

Passengers have been facing severe difficulties since buses stopped operating from Barguna terminal. Masum, a traveller, said he went to the terminal early in the morning to catch a bus to Dhaka, only to find all services suspended.

Faruk Shikder, president of the Barguna Bus-Minibus Owners’ Association, said buses were not operating due to a shortage of passengers.

In Shibchar upazila of Madaripur, trees were felled to block two parts of the Dhaka–Bhanga Expressway, which connects to the Padma Bridge. The incident occurred around 8:00 am in Dattapara and Simana areas.

Shahadat Hossain Khan, convenor of Shibchar upazila unit BNP, said that after about an hour, BNP and its affiliated organisations removed the trees and cleared the road.

Shibchar highway police station OC Zahurul Islam confirmed the incident, saying, “Some miscreants tried to obstruct the highway by throwing tree branches, but locals helped remove them. Traffic is lighter than usual, but the situation is under control.”

A passenger bus parked by the Dhaka–Chattogram highway in Feni’s Sadar upazila was set on fire near Rampur Palli Bidyut around 10:00 pm on Wednesday. Locals extinguished the blaze shortly after.

Feni Model police station OC Mohammad Samsuzzaman said police visited the scene and are investigating why the bus was parked there. Necessary legal action will follow.

At the same time, Awami League activists attempted to block the highway at Fatehpur by burning wooden planks. Around 15–20 masked persons took part in the action, though police said they had no confirmed information regarding the incident.