Arsonists try to set DU bus on fire in Mirpur

Some arsonists on Sunday tried to set fire to one of Dhaka University‍‍`s student carrier BRTC buses in the capital on the first day of a 48-hour countrywide blockade enforced by the BNP and like-minded opposition parties.

The incident took place in the capital‍‍`s Mirpur area around 4 pm.

However, they failed to set fire to the bus.

DU transport manager, Mohammad Kamrul Hasan, said, "As far as I know, some miscreants tried to set fire on one of our Double decker BRTC buses, named Choitali, when it was carrying local passengers, not our students."

Asked about the damages from the fire, he said, "We have hired those buses from BRTC and they mainly take care of those vehicles. However, the fire caused no severe damage to the bus or life, except burning some portions of seats. Passengers on the bus managed to extinguish the fire."

DU proctor Prof. Makshudur Rahman, said, "The information floating in the social media is baseless. Some people tried to set fire to a match when the bus was returning from a dawn trip and it was carrying regular passengers. When the passengers noticed it, they extinguished the fire. BRTC will take care of this and it is not related to us."

"Actually some people are trying to portray a fearful situation by exaggerating the incident so that we postpone regular classes and exams. But it is not expected to be," he added.