Police say unidentified arsonists have set hearth to at the least 5 major faculties, together with 4 polling stations.
Polling cubicles have been set on hearth in Bangladesh on the eve of Sunday’s basic elections, hours after 4 folks have been killed in a suspected arson assault on a commuter practice.
Police on Saturday stated unidentified arsonists set hearth to at the least 5 major faculties, together with 4 polling stations.
They have been investigating fires in Gazipur, on the outskirts of the capital, Dhaka, suspected to have been set in the midst of the evening by these aiming to disrupt the elections, which the principle opposition occasion has pledged to boycott.
“We have intensified patrolling and remain on high alert,” stated Gazipur police chief Kazi Shafiqul Alam.
The election fee has requested authorities to extend safety round polling stations.
Arsonists additionally attacked polling cubicles within the northeastern districts of Moulvibazar and Habiganj, police stated, with related incidents reported elsewhere previously two days.
Police within the coastal district of Khulna arrested two folks on Thursday evening accused of making an attempt to set hearth to a faculty, which function voting stations. The next day, one other bid to set hearth to a major college close by was averted, stated Saidur Rahman, police chief of the district.
The principle opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Celebration (BNP), and quite a few different opposition events, have boycotted the elections, saying they’re meant to solidify the rule of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
Hasina, 76, is assured of a fourth consecutive time period in Sunday’s vote, which observers have criticised as one-sided.
The Khaleda Zia-led BNP on Saturday began a 48-hour basic strike, calling on folks to boycott the vote, saying the federal government can’t assure its equity.
On Saturday morning, a small group of occasion supporters marched throughout Dhaka’s Shahbagh neighbourhood, calling on folks to affix the strike. One other rally by about 200 left-wing protesters happened outdoors the Nationwide Press Membership to denounce the election.
“The government is again playing with fire. The government has resorted to its old tactics of holding a one-sided election,” stated Ruhul Kabir Rizvi, a senior BNP official.
Lethal practice hearth
In the meantime, police apprehended seven members of the opposition occasion, accused of an alleged pre-election arson assault on a commuter practice on Friday, by which 4 folks have been killed.
Amongst these arrested within the capital early on Saturday was Nabiullah Nabi, a senior BNP official, together with six different occasion activists.
“Nabi funded and masterminded the attack,” Dhaka Metropolitan Police spokesperson Faruk Hossain informed the AFP information company by telephone.
International Minister AK Abdul Momen stated the timing of the incident confirmed an “absolute intention to hinder the festivity, safety and security of the democratic processes of the country”.
“This reprehensible incident, undoubtedly orchestrated by those with malicious intent, strikes at the very heart of our democratic values,” he added in an announcement.
Nevertheless, BNP spokesperson AKM Wahiduzzaman informed AFP the assaults have been pre-planned “acts of sabotage” by the ruling authorities, aimed toward “discrediting the non-violent movement of the BNP”.
He stated the federal government was aiming to “divert people’s attention away from the sham election”.
Eight folks have been critically injured within the practice hearth, officers stated.
“All eight, including two children, have burnt their respiratory tracts,” stated Dr Samanta Lal Sen of a state-run specialist burns hospital within the capital. “We are closely monitoring them,” he informed reporters.