Police in DHAKA, Bangladesh, detained seven opposition party members on Saturday ( Jan 6 ) in connection with an alleged pre-election arson attack on a crowded commuter train that resulted in four fatalities and eight injuries.
Hundreds of people rushed to rescue people from burning carriages as the interstate Benapole Express in the heart of Dhaka was completely destroyed by the fire on Friday night.
Police blamed the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party ( BNP ) for “deadly acts of sabotage” before Sunday’s national election, and it was the latest in a string of fires to hit railway services since late last year.
Six other gathering activists and top BNP official in Dhaka, Nabiullah Naabi, were reportedly detained in the nation’s capital early on Saturday, according to police.
Faruk Hossain, a spokeswoman for the Dhaka Metropolitan Police, told AFP over the telephone that” Nabi funded and masterminded the attack.”
The BNP and numerous other opposition parties are abstaining from voting on Sunday because they believe it to be a” fake” intended to cement Sheikh Hasina’s long-term administration.
The group has strongly refuted claims that it is to blame for the fires and called for an foreign investigation.
These are “pre-planned acts of sabotage by government officials aimed at discrediting the non-violent movements of the BNP,” according to A K M. Wahiduzzaman, a party official, to AFP.
” Our party’s leader, Tarique Rahman, had expressed his concern that the government was planning this plot to distract people from the fake vote.”
The number of fatalities from the fire had previously been reduced by officers to four.
Eight individuals had suffered serious injuries, according to Samanta Lal Sen, a top medical established in Dhaka who was attending to the blaze’s patients.