Police on alert over sabotage threat
Law enforcement agencies have stepped up security along the Dhaka-Chattogram highway amid intelligence reports that activists of the banned Awami League (AL) and its affiliated organisations, Chhatra League and Jubo League, are allegedly planning sabotage ahead of December, including vehicle vandalism, arson and crude bomb attacks.
At least 14 vulnerable locations along the 103-kilometre Cumilla stretch of the country’s busiest economic corridor have been identified as potential targets, prompting round-the-clock patrols, checkpoints and intelligence-led searches to prevent attacks and disruption to road communications.
Police and intelligence agencies have launched combing operations across Cumilla with technological support, while several leaders and activists of the Chhatra League and Jubo League have already been arrested in connection with the alleged plot.
According to intelligence information, the suspected groups are planning to exploit isolated locations and darkness at night to target long-distance vehicles with crude bombs and set them on fire using petrol.
Preliminary information obtained during the interrogation of those arrested has reportedly provided investigators with further leads.
The 14 locations identified as vulnerable are Shahidnagar, Elliotganj, Putia, Tirchar and Gomta in Daudkandi; Madhaiya and Katerpul in Chandina; Nimsar and Kabila in Burichang; Saidpur, Alekharchar and Kotbari in Adarsha Sadar; Padua Bazar in Sadar Dakshin; and Alkara in Chauddagram.
Mohammad Shamsul Alam Shah, officer-in-charge of Cumilla Detective Branch (DB) police, said intelligence agencies had received information about a possible sabotage attempt on the highway around December.
“We have intelligence that leaders and activists of the Awami League and its affiliates are planning sabotage on the Cumilla stretch of the Dhaka-Chattogram highway around December.
We are identifying their positions through the use of information technology and covert surveillance. Several people have already been arrested. This combing operation will continue until the plan is completely rooted out,” he said.
Manjur Morshed, superintendent of police of the Highway Police Cumilla Region, said no group would be allowed to create disorder on the highway and that security operations would continue until the threat was eliminated.
Meanwhile, police have expressed concern over a series of crude bomb explosions and suspicious fires involving public transport in Dhaka and neighbouring areas.
At a press briefing at the DMP Media Centre on Minto Road on Sunday, Md Akhtar Hossain, deputy commissioner of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police’s Media and Public Relations Division, said police were closely monitoring recent incidents and suspected that members of the banned organisation were instigating acts of sabotage.
He said several people had already been arrested and police operations had been intensified based on intelligence information.
Mobile patrols, pickets and round-the-clock surveillance have been strengthened in different parts of the capital to prevent further attacks and reassure the public.
Police are also examining CCTV footage to trace the sources of flammable substances and explosives and identify those involved.
Several incidents have been reported in recent days.
At around 1:00am on Saturday, two buses belonging to Sohag Paribahan and United Paribahan caught fire while parked inside Mohakhali bus terminal. Two units of the Tejgaon Fire Service brought the blaze under control.
Earlier, at around 10:00pm, a Bihanga Paribahan bus parked beneath Mirpur Pallabi Metro Rail station caught fire. Its driver and helper initially tried to extinguish the flames before police moved the vehicle to a safe location.
Fire service and police officials have yet to determine whether either incident involved arson or was accidental.
In Savar, three crude bomb explosions took place within an hour before 11:00pm on Saturday. The first blast occurred at Genda bus stand, followed by two more explosions at the Upazila Parishad premises, creating panic among local residents.
Saiful Islam, officer-in-charge of Savar Model Police Station, confirmed the incidents and said legal action would be taken. On November 6, miscreants allegedly riding a motorcycle without a number plate detonated a crude bomb at Kalshi intersection in Mirpur before fleeing.
At around 7:00pm on Friday, another crude bomb was thrown over the boundary wall of the headquarters of the Ansar and Village Defence Party (VDP) in Khilgaon, police said.
Earlier, between 8:00pm and 8:45pm on November 3, two crude bombs were detonated in quick succession in front of AJR Courier Service near House 12, Avenue 4, Block C, Section 6, in Pallabi.
An official of the courier company was seriously injured and admitted to Dhaka Medical College Hospital.
Jalal Uddin, officer-in-charge of Pallabi Police Station, said police operations to identify and arrest those responsible were continuing.
Police said surveillance and security measures would remain in place to prevent further incidents and maintain public safety.