‘Petrol, chemicals used’ to torch train

Masud Alam started his journey towards Dhaka from Bhanga Railway Station in carriage "Cha" of Benapole Express around 7:50pm on Friday.

When the train reached Golapbagh area in Dhaka, a commotion among passengers caught Masud's attention. He glanced back and saw a seat three rows behind him on fire.

"The carriage was quickly filled with smoke, and the train's lights went out. Despite this, the train was moving," explained Masud, a software engineer.

He was suffering from smoke inhalation. The tragic fire claimed the lives of four people.

Masud attempted to reach the exit but faced obstacles in the dark and smoke. He finally managed to get a train window open and despite having injuries to his legs, back, and hands, he could get off the slowly moving train.

Masud, along with nine other passengers, are undergoing treatment at the Sheikh Hasina National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery.

Witnesses said the fire broke out around 8:50pm. The fire then spread to two other carriages.

Constable Mohammad Ali of Railway Police said, "Suddenly, I heard people in Cha carriage screaming that a fire broke out. Looking forward, I found everything under the cover of smoke."

"Then I alerted people and managed to stop the train by pulling the chain," he added.

During primary inspection, the Bomb Disposal Unit of the Counter-terrorism and Transnational Crime pointed out that the flames started from a seat in the carriage "Cha".

Rahmat Ullah Chowdhury, chief of the Bomb Disposal Unit, told The Daily Star yesterday, "The fire broke out near a seat of carriage Cha, and we have successfully identified the spot."

About the substances used for the flames, he said, "We primarily found evidence of petrol and chemicals. We may be able to say more about the chemicals after a detailed report."

Anower Hossain, superintendent of Dhaka Railway Police, told this newspaper, "We suspect arsonists were in the train in the guise of passengers as the fire originated in a seat. But we are also checking whether anyone threw something from outside as the window was open."

Meanwhile, the Detective Branch of police yesterday claimed to have found involvement of the BNP and Jubo Dal activists in the "arson attack" after the arrest of eight people, including the BNP's Dhaka south city unit Joint Convener Nabi Ullah Nabi.

Nabi, 66, and Jubo Dal activist Mansur Alam, 42, were among the planners and financers of the attack, DB chief Harun-Or-Rashid told a press briefing yesterday.

"At least 10-12 Jubo Dal leaders of their eight units in the city held a virtual conference on Thursday around 6:00pm. They discussed arson, crude bomb attacks at various polling centres in different wards, and setting fire to Dhaka-bound trains. Their focus was to draw national and international media attention," Harun claimed.

"One of them agreed to execute the attack on the train," he said without mentioning his name.

The planners engaged three criminals who carried out the arson attacks in Banglamotor area in 2013-14, he said, adding that detectives got their names and were trying to arrest them.

SM Nurul Islam, a director of the train, yesterday evening filed a murder case with the Dhaka Railway Police Station against unnamed people.

A five-member body is investigating the incident, Lt Col Mohammad Tajul Islam Chowdhury, director (operations) of fire service, told The Daily Star.

"We had intelligence that sabotage could happen in the capital, but it was not known where it would take place," said M Khurshid Hossain, director general of Rab.

Meanwhile, the BNP raised questions about the arrest of BNP activists in connection with the incident.

BNP Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi yesterday denounced the attack and said the government was playing with fire to make political gains by blaming the opposition.

At a virtual press briefing, Rizvi said the law enforcement agencies are making the same story in every sabotage case.

Within the hours of the incident, detectives claimed to have found the involvement of BNP men without any investigation, added Rizvi.