A parked bus was set on fire allegedly by miscreants in Faridpur early Tuesday, leaving its driver dead from smoke inhalation.
The victim, Kalachan Sheikh, 55, suffered breathing difficulties after escaping the burning vehicle. The bus was completely gutted in the fire.
Kalachan was the son of the late Nuruddin Sheikh of Diknagar village in Muksudpur upazila of Gopalganj. He had been working as a bus driver for around 30 years.
The incident occurred around 1:45am beside the Dhaka-Barisal highway near the municipal bus terminal in the Goalchamot area of Faridpur town.
According to police and transport workers, the bus, operated by Kishore-Tanmoy Paribahan, ran on the Faridpur-Madaripur regional route. Kalachan had been driving it for the past one and a half years.
He lived with his family in his village home but often slept inside the bus when it returned late at night.
The bus was owned by Tapan Kumar Das, 50, of Rathkhola Sinpara area in Faridpur town.
Faridpur Fire Service Senior Station Master Sribash Baroi said firefighters received information about the blaze at 1:55am and rushed to the scene to find the bus engulfed in flames.
They brought the fire under control after 15-20 minutes of effort, he said, adding that the driver had fallen ill and was taken to hospital.
Abul Bashar, organising secretary of the Faridpur Motor Workers' Union, said Kalachan had been sleeping inside the bus parked near the terminal when it was set on fire.
The heat from the flames burned one of his hands. He managed to escape and tried to extinguish the fire himself but soon fell ill after inhaling smoke, Bashar said.
He was rushed to hospital, where doctors declared him dead.
Confirming the incident, Faridpur Additional Superintendent of Police (Sadar Circle) Azmir Hossain said three people arrived on a motorcycle and one of them poured petrol on the bus before setting it on fire.
The driver did not sustain any burn injuries but fell ill after inhaling smoke while escaping the vehicle, he said.
Police are collecting CCTV footage from different parts of the town to identify those involved and have launched an operation to arrest them, the police official added.