Cops sue BNP men for arson

Police claimed that the nine buses were torched in the capital on Thursday by leaders and activists of the BNP, its affiliated bodies and the BNP-led 20-party alliance at the directive of their central leaders.

The aim was to foil the Dhaka-18 by-polls that day, police said in cases filed over the arson attacks.

Law enforcers filed nine cases with six police stations yesterday against 452 named accused, mostly members of the BNP and its front organisations. There are also many unnamed accused.

The charges brought against the accused include attempted murder under the penal code and sabotage under the Special Powers Act, 1974 and Explosives Substances Act.

This newspaper obtained copies of statements of six cases. In three of them, police made identical claims that the attacks were carried out by the BNP, its affiliates and 20-party alliance leaders and activists at the behest of their central leaders to foil Thursday's by-polls and destablise law and order.

Ishraq Hossain, the defeated BNP candidate in south city mayoral election, has been made the prime accused in a case filed with Motijheel police station.

BNP's SM Jahangir, who was defeated by the Awami League candidate in Thursday by-polls by a huge margin, was mentioned as the mastermind behind the torching of a bus and explosion of two crude bombs in Bhatara area.

BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir yesterday, however, alleged that the buses were torched by government agents. Speaking at a briefing, he claimed that the arson attacks were carried out to malign his party.

Walid Hossain, deputy commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police's media and public relations division, said two cases were filed with Motijheel, Shahbagh and Paltan police stations each while one case each with Bangshal, Bhatara and Kalabagan police stations.

The cases were lodged in the last two days, he said.

Seventy-nine people were named as accused in the two cases filed with Shahbagh police station, 76 in the two with the Paltan station, 87 in the two cases with Motijheel police, 56 in the case with Bangshal police, 49 in the case with Kalabagan police and 95 in the case filed with Bhatara police station.

The nine buses, including three government-owned ones, were set on fire in different parts of the city between 12:07pm and 4:30pm on Thursday.

After the arson attacks, police arrested 21 accused -- nine accused in the two cases with Paltan police, two in the two cases with Motijheel police, six in the two cases with Shahbagh police, two in the case with Kalabagan and two accused in the case with Bangshal police station.

After police placed the accused before two Dhaka courts with remand prayers, the courts placed them on remand for different days.

In one of the cases filed with Motijheel police station, Sub-inspector Ataur Rahman Bhuiyan mentioned that 42 accused, including Ishraq Hossain, and many unidentified leaders and activists of the BNP, its affiliates and 20-party alliance torched a bus of Agrani Bank to foil the Dhaka-18 by-polls and kill a staffer of the vehicle. The named accused included two private secretaries to Ishraq and 38 leaders of different units of BNP and its front organisations.

In the other case filed with the same police station, the allegation was identical. All the 45 named accused in the case was leaders of the BNP, the Jubo Dal, the Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal and the Swechhasebak Dal.

In the case filed with Bangshal police, Taijuddin, BNP ward-32 unit president, was named as the prime accused among 56 accused. Other accused include Yakub Sarkar, general secretary of BNP's ward-35 unit, Mamun Hossain, general secretary of Bangshal Thana Jubo Dal, Faruk Ahmed, vice-president of Bangshal Thana Jubo Dal and Mohammad Rashed, general secretary of Bangshal Thana Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal.

In the case filed with Bhatara police station, SI Eskandar Ali Sardar mentioned that Jubo Dal activists took position on the road near Coca Cola intersection and brought out a procession at the directive of SM Jahangir to destablise law and order and public safety and foil the Dhaka-18 by-polls. Almost all the 95 accused in the case are leaders and activists of the BNP and its front organisations.

'CALL RECORDS BEING ANALYSED'

Additional Commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police and Head of Counter Terrorism and Transnational Unit Monirul Islam yesterday said experts were analysing call records related to the arson attacks.

"We have received a call record relating to buses set on fire in several places in the capital yesterday. The call record is being analysed," he told journalists at Bangladesh Crime Reporters Association office, BSS reported.

He said the call records would serve as important evidence to investigate the cases, adding, "There is a similarity between the call record and the fire incidents."