Two English-Medium School and College Students Set Bus on Fire in Mirpur

An incident of setting fire to a bus named Kironmala Paribahan occurred on the Beribadh Main Road under Shah Ali Police Station in Mirpur, the capital, around 10 PM on Thursday (13 November). While setting the bus on fire, the matter was witnessed by local residents, and when they chased them, Abdullah Al Sayeaf, a second-year student of a renowned college, jumped into the Turag River and died. At that time, the locals caught his friend Sani who was with him.

The deceased’s friend, detained by the police, is a tenth-grade student of an English-medium school, and his name is Rudra Mohammad Nahiyan Amir Sani.

Police stated that a bottle of kerosene and a lighter were recovered from them. With these, they set fire to the stationary bus. Police are also thoroughly investigating whether anyone instigated them to set fire to the bus or if anyone assisted them from behind the scenes.

Around 1:30 AM on Thursday (13 November), Shah Ali Police Station Inspector (Investigation) Matiur Rahman confirmed the death of the youth who set the bus on fire. He said that the deceased, Abdullah Al Sayeaf (18), was a second-year student of a renowned college. His detained friend, Sani, is a tenth-grade student at an English-medium school.

Preliminary reports suggest that while they were setting fire to the Kironmala Paribahan bus, local residents saw them and chased them. To save his life, teenager Sayeaf jumped into the Turag River. Later, people present at the scene rescued him unconscious and handed him over to law enforcement. Police then took an entirely unconscious and unresponsive Sayeaf to Shaheed Suhrawardy Hospital, where he was declared dead.

The equipment used to ignite the bus was found in their possession. A bottle of kerosene and a lighter were recovered. Police officer Matiur Rahman further said that both the deceased and the detained were students—one from a college and the other from an English-medium school. Although they currently live with their families in the Mirpur 10 area, one of their homes is in the Benarashi Palli area.

Meanwhile, Dhaka Metropolitan Police DC (Media) Muhammad Talebur Rahman told the media that more than two youths poured kerosene from a plastic bottle and set fire to an empty bus parked on the road to the west of Sohel Engineering Workshop in Uttar Nababurbagh under Mirpur’s Shah Ali Police Station, and were recording a video of it. Later, locals chased the youths who set the bus on fire, caught Sani, and Sayeaf jumped into the nearby Turag River to save himself. But since he could not swim, he drowned and died. Another youth with them managed to flee. Legal procedures regarding the incident are underway.