Photo: Collected
Eight were detained, among them BNP leader Nabiullah.
"BNP leader Nabiullah and five other people were intimately involved in the train arson incident"
Eight persons were detained about the Friday arson attack on the Benapole Express train in the Gopibagh area of Dhaka, which resulted in the deaths of four people. Among them was Nabiullah Nabi, joint convener of the BNP unit in Dhaka south.
Jubo Dal activists Hasan, Delwar, Iqbal Hossain Swapan, Rasel, Salauddin, and Muhammad Mansur Alam are among the other people arrested.
Speaking at a press briefing on Saturday at the DMP media centre, Chief of the Detective Branch (DB) of the police and Additional Commissioner of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP), Harun-or-Rashid, provided the details.
He added that Nabiullah and five other people were intimately involved in the train arson incident.
Following questioning, the DB head stated during the briefing that "about ten to eleven BNP leaders and activists joined a video conference before the arson incident where all of them planned to carry out the attack."
He claimed, "attending the video conference were Kazi Mansur, Iqbal Hossain Bablu, Joint Convener MA Gaffar, Member Secretary Rabiul Islam Nayan, and Convener of Dhaka South Jubo Dal Khandaker Enam."
"They discussed plans to set trains headed towards Dhaka on fire during the video call. The aim was to capture the interest of both domestic and foreign media outlets, according to Harun.
The DB head went on, "Several gangs of Jubo Dal members from Lalbagh began the arson attack on Benapole Express under the supervision of Rabiul Islam Nayan, the leader of the Jubo Dal. One of the attendees of the video conference was the one who started the fire, but we are hiding his identify for the time being to conduct an investigation.
The head of DB added that three participants in the video conversation stated they could carry out the arson assault.
They detonated bombs and started fires in various locations between 2013 and 2014. They planned the train arson assault together, he claimed.
The mobile device used for the video conference has been retrieved by DB. This cell phone is Kazi Mansur's. According to Harun, he is in detention right now.
Harun added that individuals who are detained would be placed under remand and that more information regarding the arson attack will be released at a later time.
At least four people were killed as arsonists set fire to Benapole Express train in the capital's Gopibagh area on Friday night.
Arsonists torched four coaches of the Benapole Express train at 9:05 pm. Three coaches of the Dhaka-bound train were completely burnt.
Bangladesh Railways has formed a seven-member committee to investigate the incident. The committee has been formed following the directive from Divisional Railway Manager (DRM) to identify the reason behind the incident and fix responsibility.
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