Bus set on fire near AL rally in Mirpur amid heavy police presence

A passenger bus was set on fire in broad daylight near an Awami League rally amid heavy presence of security forces in the capital's Mirpur today .

The Prajapati Paribahan bus was heading for Mirpur-1 from Abdullahpur with 40 passengers. When it reached the Mirpur-10 intersection, unidentified persons posing as passengers set it on fire, according to AL leaders and police officials.

"I was addressing the rally when the bus was set on fire. I sustained burn injuries in my hand while trying to extinguish the blaze," said William Praloy Samaddar, the Dhaka Metropolitan North Awami League office secretary, with Prothom Alo.

"All of a sudden, some miscreants posing as passengers torched the bus. As all the passengers rushed to a safer place promptly, police couldn't trace the perpetrators," said Dhaka Metropolitan Police's Mirpur zone Assistant Commissioner Hasan Muhammad Mohtarim.

In a similar incident, another bus was set ablaze in the Sutrapur area of the capital on the same day. 

The developments come amid the fourth round of countrywide blockade announced by the BNP, Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami and other opposition parties.

Meanwhile, six more buses were torched in the capital last night, just before the two-day blockade.

Between 8:20 pm and 11:30 pm, these arson incidents occurred in Motijheel, Gabtali, Gulistan, Jatrabari, Taltala, and Kafrul Thana areas of Agargaon. 

Since 28 october, a total of 73 vehicles have been set ablaze in Dhaka. At least one person, a driver's assistant, has succumbed to burn injuries from one such incident in Demra.

The majority of these arson incidents unfolded during the evening, late at night, and in the early morning.