Tongi market fire was sabotage, allege traders

Traders of Sabura Market in Tongi Bazar area under Gazipur suspect an unidentified man of setting fire to the wholesale market and fleeing the scene.

This comes at a time when several markets in the capital caught fire and thousands of shops were burned to ashes in a couple of weeks time.

The incident was reported on April 12 and the traders are passing each day under fear of another such attempt.

Dhaka Tribune

While inspecting footage from closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras, it was seen that the youth was walking around the market with a bag in hand at around 10pm on the day. After some time, some traders spotted a fire in one of the stores.

The shopkeeper of the store removed the goods on fire and spotted a bottle that was wrapped in a bag and contained petrol.

Russell, an employee at another store, confirmed the matter and said it had Petrol in it and a cell phone was wrapped in the plastic bag as well. The mobile had a wire attached to a battery, he said.

Trader Zakir Hossain said: “We were able to handle the situation as we spotted it quickly. Things could have gone much worse.”

Matiur Rahman, president of Sabura Market, said: "We are very scared. We want the government to take action against the culprit.

Dhaka Tribune

There are about 150 shops in the three-storey Sabura Market. These include shops that sell cosmetics, plastic items and stationeries.

Ashraful Islam, officer-in-charge (OC) of Tongi east police station, said: “We have been working on it ever since the matter came to our attention. Our forces are on the ground to nab the suspect.”