Case filed over fire on Hawor Express in Mohanganj, unnamed banned Awami League activists accused

A case has been filed with the railway police station over the setting of fire to the intercity Hawor Express train in Mohanganj, Netrokona. An unspecified number of unnamed leaders and activists of the banned Awami League and its associate bodies have been accused in the case.

Mohanganj Railway Police outpost in-charge Sub-Inspector (SI) Mobarak Hossain confirmed the information on Thursday morning (November 12).

Earlier, on Tuesday night, the Hawor Express train's passenger service worker (steward) Alauddin filed the case with Mymensingh Railway Police Station as the complainant.

Speaking to local people, railway police and the station master, it was learned that miscreants set fire to the stationary intercity Hawor Express at Mohanganj railway station at around 6am on Tuesday (November 10). Four seats in the train's 'D' coach were burned.

The Hawor Express from Dhaka had arrived at Mohanganj station at 5:10am that day. After the train stopped, passengers got off. The guard and staff also went outside to eat. There were no passengers or staff on the train at the time.

The fire occurred in the 'D' coach on the west side of the station. As the spot is outside the platform, there is no CCTV camera there. The rexine covers of seats 5-6 and 11-12 of the coach were burned.

Seeing the fire, the train's guard and passenger service workers tried to put it out with fire extinguishers. Fire Service members later arrived and extinguished the fire.

However, the incident did not disrupt train movement. The Hawor Express left Mohanganj station for Dhaka with passengers at the scheduled time of 8am.

Mohanganj railway station master Zahirul Islam said: 'A case has been filed with the railway police station over this incident. Since the incident, several precautionary steps have been taken for the safety of trains and passengers. Police are keeping constant watch from the moment a train enters the station. Several other precautionary measures have also been taken.'

SI Mobarak Hossain said no one has yet been arrested in the case. Operations are continuing to identify and arrest those involved.