5 buses torched in Chattogram, Dhamrai amid BNP, allies’ blockade
3 motorcycles were torched by picketers in Bogura
Miscreants set fire to three buses in Chattogram since last night centring the three-day blockade called by BNP and nine other allied organisations.
One bus was set of fire at the Salt Gola crossing area of Chattogram EPZ police station around 6am on Tuesday.
Also, two other buses were torched the night before the blockade.
Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel
Miscreants set fire to a city bus near Bayezid Bostami police station around 3:30am and a minibus was torched in Garib Ullah Shah Mazar area around 10:30pm.
Fire service and concerned police said that there were no casualties in these incidents.
EPZ police station Officer-in-Charge OC Mohammad Hossain said the bus stopped at the Salt Gola crossing area to pick up passengers. At that time, two people got on, set fire to the bus and fled from the scene.
Fire Service and Civil Defense's EPZ official Mohammad Ismail said the fire service personnel went there after receiving the information and brought the fire under control after about half an hour.
Meanwhile, traffic was sparse on the road till 9am on the first day of the blockade called by BNP and nine of its affiliates. However, the traffic on the road is increasing with time.
The number of buses on the road is lesser than usual, but there were ample amount of private vehicles including rickshaws, auto-rickshaws, tempus, minibuses.
Belayet Hossain, president of Chittagong Metropolitan Road Transport Owners Group, told TBS about 80% of public transport is operating in Chattogram city amid the blockade. As time progresses, 20% of cars will also move.
He also said usually around 1,200 mini buses, 1,600 human haulers and 200 tempos ply on different routes of Chattogram city.
Meanwhile, on the first day of the blockade, all trains left and arrived at Chattogram rail station on time till 9am, confirmed Chattogram Railway Station Master Zafar Alam.
Attempt to set passenger bus on fire thwarted in Sylhet
A group of miscreants attempted to set fire to a passenger bus in the Galimpur area of South Surma in Sylhet. The incident occurred around 8 am when the miscreants forcibly entered the bus and initiated an act of vandalism.
However, the swift and courageous response of the passengers on board managed to extinguish the flames, preventing any casualties.
The unidentified culprits, who had targeted the bus, fled the scene before law enforcement authorities arrived.
These unsettling events took place as a part of ongoing demonstrations in support of the 3-day blockade called by the BNP.
Demonstrators have been strategically obstructing bus movement along the Dhaka-Sylhet highway since early in the morning, disrupting the flow of traffic by felling trees onto the road.
Local law enforcement agencies, including the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), have been deployed to patrol the highway to maintain law and order and respond to any potential incidents.
2 buses set on fire in Dhamrai
Picketers vandalised two buses including a bus carrying school students in Srirampur area of Dhaka's Dhamrai around 9am today.
Confirming the matter, Dhamrai Police Station Inspector (Operations) Nirmal Kumar Das told The Business Standard, "One person has been arrested in connection with the vandalism of the bus. Legal action is in process."
When asked if anyone was injured in the attack and vandalism of the bus, the official said, "The students and passengers may have been slightly injured due to the broken glass, but we have not received any reports of any significant injuries."
3 motorcycles torched in Bogura
Blockaders set three motorcycles on fire in the Banani bypass area of the Dhaka-Bogura highway at around 10:30am Tuesday (31 October) morning.
Additional Superintendent of Police of Bogra District Police, Abdur Rashid, who was present at the scene, said those involved will be arrested.
