In the latest spate of petrol bomb attacks by blockaders, some 40 people got burnt in the capital, Rajshahi and Bogra yesterday.
The worst since the Rangpur incident earlier this month, the arson attack in the capital saw 30 people receiving burn injuries as two pickets threw two petrol bombs on a bus packed with passengers at Jatrabari around 9:30pm.
In Rajshahi and Bogra, a bus and a truck came under similar attacks in which a dozen people received burn injuries.
Doctors at the Dhaka Medical College Hospital said 29 of the burn patients, including two women, were admitted with 10-39% burn.
Dr Sazzad Khandoker at the hospital told the Dhaka Tribune that the condition of at least eight of the burn victims was critical while a few of the others might be released today.
Meanwhile, a child and a truck helper who had received burn injuries in previous attacks died at the DMCH yesterday.
Also an autorickshaw driver was run over by a burning truck in Sylhet yesterday afternoon.
Yesterday was the 18th day of the indefinite blockade imposed by the BNP-led 20-party alliance. More than 30 people died in the violence as of yesterday.
Arson at Jatrabari
A youth named Al Amin told the Dhaka Tribune at the DMCH that he had been at the gate of the Gausia-bound bus from Gulistan, clutching tight at the handle as the bus was over crowded. He saw two youths throw two petrol bombs – one from the rear of the bus and another from its left side.
He said both the bombs shattered the window glasses and exploded inside the Glory Paribahan bus.
“The fire spread instantly and everyone was frantically trying to get out of the burning vehicle,” he said, adding that he had two relatives on the bus.
Al Amin came to the hospital to look for one of his relatives who had been missing since the incident that took place around 9:30pm.
Dr Sazzad Khandaker said the eight burn victims whose condition was critical needed to be treated at the Intensive Care Unit, but it was already full of patients.
He said 30 burn victims from the arson attack had been admitted and one with very minor injuries was released after treatment.
He said they had not received so many burn victims at one go before. He said they were struggling to maintain treatment for everyone because of the large number of patients, many of whom sustained serious burn injuries.
He said a team of five doctors had been looking after the treatment.
Jatrabari police station Officer-in-Charge Abani Shankar said the attack was made near the Molla bridge and the injured were taken to Dhaka Medical College Hospital.
The Border Guard Bangladesh identified the 29 burn victims as Afroza, Mosharraf, Momen, Salauddin, Shahida, Yasmin, Rashed, Salman, Nazmul, Takdir, Sharif Khan, Salauddin, Palash, Khokon, Ishtiaq, Joynal Abedin, Arif, Nure-e-Alam, Sumon, Rubel, Farukh, Abul Hossain, Jabed, Mojaffar, Shahjahan, Al-Amin, Jamir Ali, Abdul Mannan, and Shahidul Islam.
Rajshahi
Nine people, including women and children, sustained injuries when petrol bombs were hurled at a bus of Yarabbi Paribahan in front of the Brac office in Rajshahi’s Tanore upazila around 7:30pm.
Eight of them could be identified as Makbul hossain, 45, his wife Anwara, 40, Nazma, 35, Farzana, 5, Julekha, 30, Ashraf, 37, Asiya, 7, and Ainuddin, 35. They all were rushed to Rajshahi Medical College Hospital.
Tanore police station Officer-in-Charge Anwar Hossain said Shibir activists who had been lurking in the area made the attack, and the bus was completely destroyed.
In another incident in Rajshahi’s Paba upazila, two Shibir workers – Moshiur Rahman and Abdul Awal – got on a bus of Imon Paribahan which was heading towards Rajshahi from Tanore.
Using gunpowder, they attempted to make an arson attack inside the bus around 8pm but passengers hurriedly got down. Locals later captured the two and gave them a mass beating.
Paba police station Officer-in-Charge Motiar Rahman said the two would be questioned after treatment.
In Bogra, a trucker and the helper were injured when petrol bombs were hurled at the truck at Tin Matha intersection last night, said Superintendent of Police Md Mozammel Haque.
Masud Rana, 40, and helper Jahangir Alam, 35, were admitted to Shaheed Ziaur Rahman Medical College Hospital.
In Sylhet, a moving truck rammed an autorickshaw when a petrol bomb was hurled at it in Dakkhin Surma area, killing autorickshaw driver Shahjahan Uddin, 30, in the afternoon. The trucker and his helper were also injured, reports our correspondent in the city.
Officer-in-Charge of Dakkhin Surma police station Khairul Fazal said the trucker lost control when the vehicle caught fire and hit the autorickshaw coming from the opposite side. Locals demonstrated protesting the incident.
Meanwhile, in Bhairab Bazar of Sylhet, a truck helper named Sajiuddin Saju, 50, sustained injuries as blockaders hurled petrol bombs at the truck on its way to Dhaka under police protection on Thursday.
He was admitted to Moulvibazar Sadar Hospital, said Sreemangal police station Sub-Inspector Jalal Uddin.
A petrol bomb was thrown inside the Chhatra League’s office at Salanga thana in Sirajganj in the morning.
In Feni’s Old Police Quarter area, miscreants set ablaze a covered van and a CNG-run autorickshaw around 1pm but none was injured.
In Noakhali, blockaders vandalised at least 10 vehicles at Senbagh in the afternoon. Police later arrested two Chhatra Shibir activists along with petrol bombs and crude bombs.
At Comilla district bus stop, blockaders torched two buses owned by a local BNP leader early in the morning.
Around 8am in Habiganj, at least five crude bombs were blasted in front of residences of four policemen – ASPs Sazzadul Hasan, Sazzad Ibne Roy, Masudur Rahman Monir and SP Shahidul Islam. Police, however, could not arrest anyone.
In Narayanganj, police detained Abu Sayeed, 30, and Haiyun Mia, 28, from a bus who were carrying gunpowder.
Feni police detained Jamaat-e-Islami Ameer of the district unit Abdul Hannan and 18 others for their alleged involvement in recent arson attacks.
In Bogra, the BNP called a 48-hour general strike which came into force today.
The blockade, however, did not disrupt traffic on roads in the capital yesterday, which was also a weekly holiday.
The number of inter-district buses leaving Dhaka was higher compared to the previous days while launch services also remained usual. But trains failed to keep schedules.
Blockaders set fire to a human haulier in Kunapara in the morning and a bus in Jatrabari at noon.
