BNP-men arrested for railway sabotage name Tuku as mastermind

Two persons arrested on charges of uprooting the railway tracks at Sreepur in Gazipur on December 13 have said that the sabotage was plotted by Jubo Dal President Sultan Salauddin Tuku.

Additional Police Commissioner of DMP's Counterterrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC), M Asaduzzaman revealed the information in a press conference organized by DMP Media and Public Relations Department on Monday.

The detainees are- former Chhatra Dal vice president and current Juba Dal leader M Ekhtiar Rahman Kabir, 43 and President of Metropolitan Chhatra Dal Imon Hossain, 19.

"During preliminary interrogation, they have confessed that Tuku contacted Kabir and said that there was pressure from the higher levels of the party to carry out major destructive acts of sabotage. They were paid a large sum for doing the job," he said.

"Tuku planned the sabotage to spread fear among people and disrupt the railway movement knowing that commoners use rail as a safe mode of transportation during the strike and blockades. His main intention was to cause massive loss of life on the railways," the CTTC official added.

"To implement the plan, Kabir held a meeting with Toha, the former convener of Azimuddin Government College Chhatra Dal of Gazipur and Masum, the organizing secretary of Gazipur Mahanagar Chhatra Dal," he said.

The CCTC official also said that the arrested Kabir has admitted his involvement in setting more than 10 buses on fire in various areas including Jatrabari, Demra, New Market and Old Dhaka since October 28.

"Necessary legal proceedings against them in this regard is underway," he said.

A 20-foot stretch of rail track was uprooted, leading to the derailment of the Dhaka-bound Mohanganj Express in Gazipur on December 13, killing one person and injuring several others.

/KN/