Police classify rail fire as 'sabotage'
A case has been filed over the fire on a Benapole Express train in Gopibagh of the capital that claimed the lives of at least four people, which police classified as an act of sabotage.
SM Nurul Islam, director (guard) of Benapole Express, filed the case with Dhaka Railway police station today.
Anwar Hossain, superintendent of railway police, said the case was filed against unnamed miscreants under the Special Powers Act and section 302 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
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The Special Powers Act aims to address specific threats, ensure swift trials, and impose severe penalties for serious offences while Section 302 of the Criminal Procedure Code stipulates punishment, including death or life imprisonment with a fine, for those convicted of murder.
Police detained BNP's Dhaka South Joint Convenor Nabi Ullah Nabi and seven other party men today in a midnight operation over their alleged involvement in the fire incident.
"We have arrested one of the main perpetrators, Kazi Monsoor Alam, who coordinated with previously jailed criminals to execute the attack. We arrested three others from Lalbagh. Nabi Ullah Nabi helped them and advised them [on how to carry out the attack]," said Additional Commissioner of the Detective Branch of Police Harun-Or-Rashid in a press conference today.
A Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Court later remanded Nabi in police custody for three days, police said.
Act of sabotage
The Benapole Express train was en route to Dhaka, carrying passengers from Benapole. Shortly before reaching Kamalapur railway station, the fire broke out in front of the Gopibagh kitchen market around 9pm.
While visiting the scene at around 11:30pm on Friday, Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) Additional Commissioner Mahid Uddin said the fire incident on the Benapole Express was a planned act of sabotage.
Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) Director General M Khurshid Hossain said they received intelligence information about the possibility of sabotage occurring in the capital but the exact location of the sabotage was not definitively known.
"It is not yet possible to determine who set fire to the train last night. Investigations and inquiries are currently underway. We apprehended three individuals in possession of 28 petrol bombs and 30 cocktails yesterday. We are interrogating them," the RAB director general said today while visiting a polling centre at Mirpur College in the capital.
Three people were arrested along with the 58 bombs and bomb-making materials from a house in the Jurain Rail line area in Dhaka's Jurain area yesterday.
Hours before the fire on Friday, Inspector General of Police Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun warned that saboteurs have plans to create panic among citizens with loud explosions and cocktails on election day.
"Any such attempts to spread fear would not be successful," he said during a security briefing on Friday.
Hope for ID, survivors fight for life
On Friday, the Fire Service doused the flame with over an hour of effort and recovered the four charred bodies from the compartments of the train.
The bodies were sent to Dhaka Medical College Hospital and kept at the mortuary there since the victims cannot be identified, said Anwar Hossain, superintendent of railway police.
Four families have contacted them so far with missing claims, the police officer added.
Dhaka Railway police station Sub-Inspector (SI) Setafur Rahman said that DMCH officials collected DNA samples of the bodies and handed them over to the police for identification.
The Criminal Investigation Department of police will analyse the victims' DNA samples and cross-match with the families who showed up with missing claims, said SI Setafur.
A DMCH morgue official said that the post-mortem examinations suggested that three of the victims are female and another is male.
Meanwhile, the injured survivors of the deadly Benapole Express train fire, who are now undergoing treatment at Sheikh Hasina National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery (SHNIBPS), are in critical condition.
"All eight injured passengers have burnt their respiratory tracts in the fire incident," Dr Samanta Lal Sen, coordinator of the institute, said at a press briefing today.
Train operations suspended
Bangladesh Railway suspended the operation of 22 train services which shuttle through the western region of the country – following the fire incident.
This suspension includes trains scheduled for 7 January, the day of the election, according to a Facebook post by the general manager of West Bangladesh Railway on his official handle.
The West Zone GM Asim Kumar Talukder also confirmed the matter over a phone call with The Business Standard this morning.
Moreover, three trains scheduled to depart from Chattogram Railway Station were temporarily halted, Station Master Zafar Alam said today
The Dhaka-bound Karnaphuli Express train, originally scheduled to depart at 10am, was among the affected trains.
Besides, the Mymensingh-bound Nasirabad Express train, slated for a 3pm departure, and the Nazirhat-bound train scheduled for 5:30pm also did not leave the Chattogram station due to heightened security concerns.
These trains will remain grounded even on the upcoming polling day, according to Railway officials.
