Bus driver killed in Faridpur bus arson attack.
A 55-year-old bus driver died after miscreants set fire to his bus while he was sleeping inside it at Goalchamot Natun Bus Stand in Faridpur town early Tuesday.
The deceased, Mohammad Kalachan Sheikh, was the father of three children and the sole breadwinner of his family.
He used to drive a bus named 'Kishore Tanmoy' on the Faridpur-Tekarhat-Madaripur route. After completing his daily work, he usually parked the bus beside the road and slept inside it.
As usual, he parked the bus at the Natun Bus Stand on Monday night and went to sleep. At around 1:45 am, miscreants set the bus on fire, leaving him trapped inside.
Kalachan hailed from Diknagar area of Muksudpur upazila in Gopalganj. His death has plunged his family into uncertainty, local residents said.
Faridpur Superintendent of Police Shahriar Mohammad Miaji said the bus caught fire late Monday night while the driver was sleeping inside it.
He suspected that the driver might have died from smoke inhalation.
Fire Service personnel rushed to the spot and brought the fire under control. The driver was rescued and taken to Faridpur Medical College Hospital, where the attending physician declared him dead.
The SP said police were working to identify those involved in the incident and bring them to justice.
Meanwhile, local residents blamed the activities-banned Awami League for the arson attack. They alleged that the party's activists had carried out arson attacks on buses and exploded crude bombs at different places across the country on Monday night.
They also claimed that some activists had been caught red-handed with crude bombs and petrol in different areas, alleging that the Faridpur incident was part of a similar pattern of violence.
"Burning a sleeping person to death cannot be the work of a human being. Those responsible are terrorists," local residents said.
It may be mentioned that the July-August 2024 uprising claimed 1,400 lives, including 118 children, according to a United Nations report.
The report alleged that police, Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) and Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) personnel carried out indiscriminate shootings and killings of unarmed people under the direct orders of ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, using automatic and semi-automatic firearms.
Political analysts alleged that the Awami League had illegally remained in power for 17 years, during which numerous people were killed or forcibly disappeared and freedom of expression was suppressed. They also accused the party of involvement in numerous acts of state-sponsored violence.
They recalled the June 5, 2004 incident in which a double-decker BRTC bus was set on fire using gunpowder in front of the Sheraton Hotel in Dhaka, killing 11 people, including women and children.
They alleged that the Awami League was once again adopting a similar approach.
