Three buses catch fire in capital

At least three buses caught fire, likely as part of a series of sabotage attempts, in different parts of the capital in the space of a few minutes on Saturday evening.

The suspected arson attacks took place at Madhya Badda, Mirpur-11 and Mirpur-1 areas.

A bus of Shikhor Paribahan near the Zamzam tower of Mirpur-11 around 7:15pm, while it was still in motion, said Rashed Bin Khalid, duty officer at the Fire Service control room.

The Fire Service deployed two units to douse the flames, Rashed added.

No casualty or cause was immediately reported. Some locals told media outlets that unidentified assailants torched the moving bus.

Around the same time, some unidentified attempted to set fire to a bus of Obhijat Paribahan at Mirpur-1.

A video on the social media shows the back of the bus on fire, and locals trying to douse the flame by throwing water from outside.

Mirpur Police Station Officer-in-Charge Hafizur Rahman said some unidentified people was possibly behind the fire incident. Police are probing the incident, he added.

Around 7:50pm, a bus of Alif Enterprise caught fire near the Canadian University underneath the Madhya Badda U-Loop.

Badda Police Station Sub-Inspector Hasanul told reporters that officers were at the scene of the incident and a probe was underway to identify potential suspects.