Savagery goes on, claims 4 lives

Four people including a child and a woman were burnt alive and at least 30 injured in yet another grisly arson attack on a passenger bus in Gaibandha last night.

The attack, which comes hard on the heels of Tuesday's bus arson in Comilla that left eight people dead, was carried out allegedly by pro-blockade pickets.

Of the injured, eleven burn victims were rushed to Rangpur Medical College Hospital while the rest were taken to Gaibandha Sadar Hospital, reports our Gaibandha correspondent at 1:30am today.

However, an emergency ward staff of Rangpur Medical said 17 burn victims were brought to the hospital till 2:45 am today. Of them, at least six including a 10-year-old child were critically injured.

The bus of Napu Enterprise carrying around 50 passengers left the Pach Peer area under Sundarganj upazila for Dhaka. It was attacked in Tulshighat area, some six kilometres west from Gaibandha Sadar, around 10:45pm, according to victims and fire service officials.

Their identities could not be known immediately but there were a child and a woman among the dead, Fazlul Karim, station officer of Gaibandha fire station, told The Daily Star early today.

In Comilla's arson attack, seven passengers were burnt alive after pro-blockade pickets firebombed a night coach in Chouddagram upazila early Tuesday. Another victim died later at a hospital.

In two other incidents yesterday, a man was killed and another injured while allegedly making a bomb in Pabna while in Feni a covered van helper suffered burn injuries in a petrol bomb attack on the 32nd day of the BNP led 20-party's blockade.

The deceased was Md Mongol Pramanik alias Mongol, 26, son of Abdul Malek.  The injured Rashidul Islam, 25, is undergoing treatment in critical condition at Pabna Medical College Hospital, police said.

Residents of Dharmagram village, they were allegedly involved in the politics of an outlawed party before being active in the politics of the BNP-led alliance, claimed Monir Hossain, sub-inspector of Ataikula Police Station under the Sadar upazila.

Police seized 400 grams of gun powder from the spot and detained three suspects in this connection, he added.

Denying their involvement with the BNP-led alliance, Johurul Islam, office secretary of Pabna district unit BNP, said they were members of an outlawed party.

With yesterday's incidents, the death toll has risen to 60 in the ongoing blockade violence. Of the dead, 35 were victims of mindless arson attacks.

In Feni, the covered van helper Bacchu Hawlader, 28, was injured when his vehicle came under an arson attack carried out allegedly by pro-blockaders.

He sustained burns in the face and hands. He was admitted to Feni Sadar Hospital but later was sent to Dhaka Medical College Hospital. He was heading for Chittagong from Dhaka.

Meanwhile, Feni police arrested a school student and an upazila level Jubo Dal leader. The school student, Abdullah Al Miaji, is a student of class nine and was arrested with bomb-making materials from the town's Shaheed Shahidullah Kaiser Sarak. The Jubo Dal leader was Hasanuzzaman Shahadat, Dagonbhuiyan upazila unit general secretary of the youth wing.

Police claimed they arrested Abdullah after a raid on a flat and seized 35 crackers, 30 fireworks, three empty Fanta bottles and two tobacco tin cans from there.

In the capital police arrested another youth from a private clinic, who too was injured while allegedly making a bomb. Rahmat Ullah, 22, is from Rupganj in Naraynganj, Rupganj police said.

In Bogra, police conducted several special drives and arrested 39 BNP-Jamaat men including Jatiyatabadi Sramik Dal district unit president Abdul Wadud and Jamaat Nandigram unit assistant secretary Ruhul Amin. Of them, eight were suspects in Thursday's attack on a betel-leaf-laden truck that left two people killed.

Bogra Sadar Police filed a case against 48 Jamaat-BNP men in connection with the attack.

The accused are Jamaat district unit ameer Md Shahabuddin, town unit ameer Abdur Razzak, BNP district unit joint-secretary Tahauddin Nahin, town unit BNP president Mahabubur Rahman Bakul and BNP leader Delwar Hossain Hiru Poshari, among others.