Police on Tuesday arrested six BNP men in connection with the arson attack and vandalism of buses in the Ashulia area of Savar during the party’s sit-ins on July 29.
At least 13 people were identified from video footage, and among them six have been arrested,
Dhaka District Superintendent of Police (SP) Asaduzzaman said on Tuesday.
The arrestees have been identified as Dhaka district unit Jubo Dal Joint General Secretary Shahidul Islam, 44, Organizing Secretary Suruzzaman, 47, member of Dhamrai Municipality unit Chhatra Dal Apurba Chandra Das, 22, member of Dhaka district unit BNP Mominul Islam, 45, member of Savar unit Jubo Dal Md Nurul Islam Sujon, 34, and Dhamrai Thana unit Jubo Dal member Md Rajib Hossain.
The others who were identified from the footage are - Dhaka district unit Jubo Dal Vice President Rocky Dewan, former general secretary of Dhaka district unit Chhatra Dal Sajeeb Raihan, Dhaka district unit Chhatra Dal Joint Convener Sohel Ahmed, Savar unit Chhatra Dal Joint Convener Shahidul Islam Sohag, Savar Government College unit Chhatra Dal activist Hasibur Rahman Piash, former joint convener of Dhaka district Chhatra Dal Rakib, Dhamrai unit Jubo Dal member Anisur Rahman, Chhatra Dal activist Sabuj and Sumon.
The SP said after the incident on July 29, a bus driver filed a case.
On August 5, three BNP leaders were arrested in this connection. They confessed to the crime during primary interrogation, he added.
Anwar Hossain, the driver of the affected bus, said: "I was turning the vehicle around that day. At that time, 60-70 people started shouting slogans like 'If anything happens to Khaleda Zia, houses will be set on fire'. They then set my bus on fire and fled. I didn't know them at that time. Later, I recognized them from footage.”
On July 29, a moving passenger bus was reportedly torched and several others were vandalized in the Ashulia area of Savar.
The incident took place in an isolated area of Ashulia around 3pm.
According to police and witnesses, a bus of Bikash Paribahan was torched in the Bashmail U-loop area while returning to Dhaka after dropping off passengers in Nabinagar.
The bus driver, upon seeing a bus of Palash Paribahan being vandalized a couple of yards ahead, tried to turn his bus around.
However, before he could make the turn, the group vandalizing the Palash Paribahan bus rushed over, vandalized the Bikash Paribahan bus, set it on fire and fled the scene.
