Fact Detector Investigation: PUSAB’s Claim that ‘Awami League Set Fire to Police Vehicle in Uttara’ Found to Be False
The fact-checking organization Fact Detector Bangladesh has identified as false a Facebook post by the “Private University Students Alliance of Bangladesh (PUSAB),” which claimed that the Awami League was involved in the incident of a police car catching fire in Uttara, Dhaka.
Police’s preliminary investigation also found that the fire was caused by a mechanical malfunction and had no political connection.
On Wednesday morning, posts appeared on social media pages, including that of PUSAB, saying, “A bus caught fire in Uttara in the morning, three buses were set on fire in Gazipur at night, and a petrol bomb was thrown at a preparatory school in Mohammadpur — the Awami League is spreading terror across the city.”
However, Fact Detector Bangladesh found through investigation that a microbus belonging to Partex Group in Uttara caught fire due to an engine malfunction. At the same time, a police vehicle in front of Ramna Police Station also caught fire because of engine overheating. No evidence of involvement by miscreants was found in either case.
Airport Police Station’s investigating officer Sheikh Rafiqul Islam said, “The vehicle’s engine suddenly overheated. Although it caught fire, it was quickly brought under control. This was not an act of sabotage.”
Masud Alam, Deputy Commissioner of the Ramna Division of Dhaka Metropolitan Police, also confirmed, “There is no evidence of sabotage in the incident of the police car catching fire in front of Ramna Police Station. Preliminary findings suggest it was caused by a mechanical fault.”
Several police officials said that misleading information spread from fake pages, including PUSAB’s post, has caused confusion among the public. The cyber unit has begun work to identify the accounts behind these posts.
Fact Detector Bangladesh reported, “There is no evidence linking the Awami League or any of its affiliated organizations to the fire in Uttara. The incident was entirely due to a mechanical failure.”
