BNP’s devil hands once again struck a Passenger Train in Gazipur aiming for a mass killing to destabilize the upcoming general election atmosphere. It was their conspired acts of Terror against the democratic norms and not honoring to participate in the national election scheduled on 7th January 2024. Indeed, this was their classical character to violate human rights and take stands against the people’s interests.
Police Found BNP Leader’s Culprit-Hands
Amidst this, the nation is witnessing horrific arson and sabotage across the country in connection to their sickly programs. Consequently, in the 11th phase of BNP-Jamaat’s nationwide blockade on Wednesday (December 13), a man (35) was killed and 10 others were injured as a train derailed on a section of the Dhaka-Mymensingh rail line in Gazipur where the tracks were damaged by the BNP-Jamaat supporters.
The deceased was identified as Aslam (35) a poultry businessman from Gafargaon upazila of Mymensingh.
Seven coaches of the Dhaka-bound Mohanganj Express, including the locomotive, veered off the tracks at Bankharia around 4:00am, said Gazipur Fire Service Deputy Director Abdullah Al Arefin.
The saboteurs cut the tracks with gas cutters sometime in the night, Al Arefin said.
Train services between Dhaka and Mymensingh were halted following the derailment.
The fire service recovered a 12-kg gas cylinder from the forest beside the railway tracks, which could be used in the sabotage activity.
“This was a big sabotage. Thousands of people could have died,” an eyewitness said.
Gazipur district administration formed a five-member investigation committee, led by Additional District Magistrate Humayun Kabir to probe the incident.
Additionally, a seven-member investigation committee has been formed by the railways.
The incident has prompted swift action from the railway authorities, who have filed a case with the Dhaka Government Railway Police (GRP) Station to investigate the act of sabotage.
In connection with the train line sabotage, seven individuals, including city councilor and BNP leader Ajmal Bhuiyan, have been arrested.
In line with the Gazipur rail sabotage, miscreants attempted to vandalize 72 fishplates on the railway line in Domar, Nilphamari at the same time. The incident occurred in the Bagdogra Pradhanpara area of the upazila around 10 pm on Wednesday (December 13). As a result, train movement was halted for approximately one and a half hours on the Domar-Chilahati route.
From October 28 until the present, BNP and its affiliated parties have engaged in disruptive activities, including the torching of buses, loss of lives, vandalizing structures, and other actions that have severely disrupted public life.
How BNP Carried Out Sabotage Attack?
During a press conference at 12:30 pm on December 17, Gazipur Metropolitan Police (GMP) Commissioner Mahabub Alam unveiled the BNP-Jamaat’s gruesome conspiracy to destabilize the country.
The evil axis planned big to make a shocking incident to kill hundreds of onboard innocent people to show their muscle flex as their movement faltering with people’s non-participation.
While speaking, the GMP Commissioner Mahabub Alam said, “following a thorough investigation, we have apprehended two individuals—Jannatul Islam (23) and Mehedi Hasan (25)—members of the criminal gang responsible for this heinous act.
Through confidential information and IT analysis, it was revealed that the perpetrators rented a car, departed from their planned route to Dhaka, and wandered around Gazipur.
Armed with cutting equipment and gas cylinders, they picked up additional individuals and surveyed the incident site before carrying out the sabotage between 03:00 am and 04:00 am, he said.
Quoting eyewitness driver Saiful, the police commissioner said that on December 12, 2023, they rented a car onboard eight people from Gazipur’s Konabari with the intention of traveling to Dhaka later in the evening.
But they were roaming here and there and picking up different machineries including gas cylinder, cutting machine. Sensing the odds, the driver got confused and called his car owner.
At that point, one of the miscreants unveiled his mask and said, “don’t you recognize me? I’m from Gazipur. Don’t Worry”. They later picked up some more people from Gazipur ShibBari area.
Then they collected rail line cutting machine from a political leader named Toha from Gazipur sadar Jorpukur area. Then they gathered two gas cylinders from Gazipur south Salna area.
The individuals later dined at Shimultali Handi Biriyani, and at night around 12:30am, they parked the car near the forest, and proceeded on foot to the Bankharia Chinai Railway Bridge. At around 3:00-4:00am, they cut a 20-foot section of the rail line, leading to the accident at around 4:15 am.
Following this incident, they continued their journey to Dhaka. Upon reaching Dhaka, four individuals disembarked near Dhaka Medical College Hospital, while the remaining members proceeded to Mirpur. Upon arriving in Mirpur, they found themselves without any money. Consequently, they contacted someone via phone to send funds to the driver by providing his phone number. Accordingly, a person sent Tk. 8,100/- to the phone number of Driver Saiful.
The microbus involved in the incident has been located and recovered. The driver provided a comprehensive account as a direct eyewitness. Gas cylinders and other items used in the sabotage were also recovered, along with additional eyewitness identifications.
Furthermore, a video footage was presented to the media as compelling evidence of the egregious incident caused by BNP.
Arrests And Connections
| Sequence number | Names | Political Identity |
| 1 | Jannatul Islam | A member of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP). |
| 2 | Mehedi Hasan | A member of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP). |
| 3 | Hasan Ajmal | Currently holds the position of President for BNP in Ward No. 28 of the City Corporation, Gazipur. |
| 4 | Sohel JS Sohel | Formerly served as the General Secretary of Kazi Azim Uddin Government College Chhatra Dal in Gazipur |
| 5 | Shahinur Alam | Present President of BNP of Ward No. 28, City Corporation, Gazipur. |
| 6 | Zulkar Nain Ashrafi Hridoy | Formerly served as Vice President of the Municipal Branch in Ward No. 2 of the City Corporation, Gazipur |
| 7 | Saidul Islam | Formerly served as the General Secretary of Chhatra Dal in GMP, Sadar Police Station, Gazipur. |
Following intensive raids in different parts of the country, including Gazipur, Jannatul Islam (23) and Mehedi Hasan (25) were apprehended, leading to further revelations. Eight individuals, under the leadership of Masum (Organizing Secretary, Gazipur Mahanagar Chhatra Dal) and Toha (Convenor, Chhatra Dal, Kazi Azim Uddin College), were involved in the incident. Notably, the orchestrators and financiers were found to be leaders and active members of the BNP and its affiliated organizations.
The Motives
The investigation found that the miscreants first planned the attack at a meeting chaired by Ward Councilor No. 28 of Gazipur City Corporation- Ajmal Bhuiyan on December 11, 2023.
Councilor Ajmal Bhuiyan together with the masterminds behind this incident—Md Hasan Ajmal Bhuiyan, Zulkar Nain Ashrafi Hridoy, Shahinur Alam, Md. Saiful Islam, and Sohail Rana—has been apprehended.
It was deliberated that there existed pressure from the party’s higher echelons to undertake a significant action. The objective was to create a disturbance domestically and internationally, leading them to strategize the sabotage of the railway line. Their intention was to create chaos and disrupt the peaceful state environment ahead of the upcoming 12th National Assembly elections. The railway line was strategically chosen to cause domestic and international turmoil.
Hit and Run Approach for People’s Rejection
BNP-Jamaat alliance seems like adopted hit and run approach to destabilize the country as their brutal campaign against the country suffering for public non-cooperation.
Since October 28, the remaining support base of the party dwindles for their city-wide daylong mayhem that killed at least two including a police official and dozens of public properties were burnt, vandalized.
The crystal-clear violent events led peoples to realize that the axis eyes return of another 2014-15 violence.
People’s rejection of BNP’s all-out movement forces the party to carry out sabotage activities instead of other democratic ways like public rally and procession.
As the election comes near, their brutal campaign sees dramatic uptick in recent days.
Since October 29, 12 people were killed and at least 580 vehicles were torched during the hartal-blockade movement.
On December 6 alone, at least 11 vehicles were set on fire in arson attacks across the country.
Nothing New, Old Devil Again Comes Out of The Bottle
The spree of violence that the country reels in horror is not nothing new. The infamous BNP-Jamaat axis just bring out their inside devil who created widespread terrorism across the country to foil 10th general elections.
In 2014, the BNP-Jamaat alliance let loose a reign of terror to resist the January 5 election of 2014. They vandalized and torched hundreds of vehicles. As many as 200 people, including 20 law enforcers, were killed by their petrol bombs, handmade bombs, and other sorts of violence. On the day of the election, they killed 26 people, including a presiding officer, and torched 582 schools across the country, that were serving as voting centers. Braving all obstacles, people exercised their voting rights and helped continue the democratic process.
In 2015, From January 4, 2015 onward, BNP-Jamaat unleashed another reign of terror marking one year of the January 5 election, killing 231 people (mostly through arson and petrol bomb attacks) and injuring (mostly through burning) 1,180 others. Arson attacks were conducted to burn 2,903 cars, 18 rail carriages, and 8 passenger water vessels. Through targeted attacks, 70 government offices were vandalized or destroyed and 6 land offices were burnt.
From January 5 to February 17, 2015, BNP-Jamaat axis carried out 28 subversive acts in railways as many as 200 people, including 20 law enforcers, were brutally killed.
