The torching of the Mohanganj Express which led to the death of at least four passengers, including a woman and her three-year old son, is truly abhorrent. By all indications, it appears to be an act of sabotage which started the fire and engulfed three carriages of the train when it was in the Tejgaon area. 

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She held on to her child as they burned to death

Firstly, the fact that the station master of the Tejgaon Railway station saw no fire outside the train, only inside the train compartment, suggests that the fire did not originate from the train wheels. Secondly, according to members of the bomb disposal unit of the police, primary investigation suggests it was not possible for the fire to spread so quickly without the use of petrol—which indicates that it was an arson attack. And on top of that, witnesses have also said that they saw the fire originating from the rear part of the coach and spreading to the entire compartment extraordinarily fast.

Disappointingly, the tragic event, it seems, is already being politicised and we see the usual blame game being played out even before a proper investigation has been carried out.

The fact that whoever was responsible had started the fire while the train was in running mode indicates that they wanted to cause maximum damage. Such a heinous act must be investigated thoroughly and the perpetrators must be held to account. Disappointingly, the tragic event, it seems, is already being politicised and we see the usual blame game being played out even before a proper investigation has been carried out. Such rhetoric being spewed right after such a tragic event is disparaging, to say the least.

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Tejgaon train fire: Police suspect 3 arsonists boarded from airport station

The timing of the attack, hours before the BNP's hartal and blockade programmes, does raise a number of serious concerns, especially since a bus was also set on fire in Gulistan hours after the torching of the Mohanganj Express. Does this mean that we are about to see another flare up of arson attacks, sabotage and violence, such as the ones we have seen previously during periods of similar political standoffs? We hope that is not the case, and that more innocent lives do not have to be lost as our major political parties continue to ramp up their hostile rhetoric and actions in their pursuit and greed for power.

Consequently, we call on our law enforcing agencies to diligently and independently carry out an independent investigation—setting aside the toxic political mudslinging—to identify who exactly was responsible for these terrible attacks, and to remain vigilant in order to prevent any further acts of sabotage from being carried out.