Seven people sustained burns when a bus of Unique Paribahan came under arson attack near Jute Research Institute in Chandina upazila early yesterday.
The injured are Sumon Chandra Nath, 35, Imran Hossain, 25, Ranjit Sharma, 60, Anjan Kumar Dey, 50, Khokon Chakma, 35, Jahirul Islam, 30, and Lavli Akhter, 25.
They were first sent to Chandina Upazila Health Complex but were shifted to Comilla Medical College Hospital from there. Later, six of them were brought to Dhaka Medical College Hospital’s burn unit for better treatment.
“Ranjit sustained 26% burns, Khokon 18%, Imran 10%, Anjan 44% and Sumon got his hands and face burnt,” said a doctor of the burn unit.
The attack involved petrol bombs hurled at the bus at 1:30am, when the Muslims across the country were offering prayers at homes and mosques as it was the night of Shab-e-Barat.
Sirajul Islam, driver of the bus which was travelling to Rangamati from Dhaka, said he heard a bang after reaching Chandina and the bus was on fire in a moment, reports our Comilla correspondent.
“The helpers and I managed to douse the flame. The injuries of two of the seven victims were severe as their seats caught fire. The five others were injured when the passengers were hurriedly trying to alight from the bus,” he said.
Rasul Ahmed Nizami, officer-in-charge of Chandina police station, said it was initially thought that the fire was caused by the explosion of the gas cylinder or breakdown.
“But we later found out that Molotov cocktails were hurled at the bus even though we do not know who made the attack. The bus was taken to police station and a case will be filed,” he said.
Probe committee formed
Comilla Deputy Commissioner Hasanuzzaman Kollol, RAB 11 Company Commander Khurshid Alam, Chandina Upazila Nirbahi Officer Sumon Chowdhury and several other government officials visited the scene of the attack at 10am. The Comilla deputy commissioner also visited the victims at Comilla Medical College Hospital an hour earlier and gave them Tk10,000 each for medical expenses, our correspondent reports.
He told reporters the attackers could be the same people who hurled petrol bombs during the first three months of the year when a blockade imposed by BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia was in force across the country.
“A five-member committee headed by Additional District Magistrate Golamur Rahman was formed to probe the incident and attackers will be nabbed,” said Hasanuzzaman.
The nation saw a spate of petrol bomb attacks in different parts of the country when political unrest reached its peak after the BNP chief announced the countrywide blockade on January 5. General strikes were also called in phases on top of the blockade.
The attacks claimed more than 100 lives and injured scores while a large number of transports were also damaged.
