Dhaka, Bangladesh: Passengers on the Indo-Bangla 'Maitree Express' on Sunday had a narrow escape when opposition activists in Bangladesh hurled petrol bombs on the train going to Dhaka. Violence allegedly triggered by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party-enforced nationwide transport blockade continued unabated in Bangladesh.
The suspected blockaders hurled several rounds of petrol bombs on the train on Sunday afternoon near western Ishwardi Railway Station on its way to Dhaka, Bangladeshi railway officials said.
No passenger was injured in the attack. Minor damage were caused to the engine as the bombs exploded under its wheels, a railway spokesman told the Press Trust of India in Dhaka.
The attack is the latest in a spate of political violence that has claimed 75 lives so far. The opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) has clamped an indefinite countrywide blockade.
At least nine persons, including three children, have been burnt alive in the last few days when opposition activists hurled petrol bombs at a packed bus, and a truck.
Bangladeshi railway officials said this was the eighth such attack on trains in the country since former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia's BNP launched the transport blockade on highways, railways and waterways on February 6. The blockade is part of their protest against the Sheikh Hasina government, demanding mid-term elections.
"After the attack on 'Maitree Express', a changed engine later took the carriages to Dhaka with passengers onboard," said Sayedur Rahman, assistant director of Bangladesh Railways.
A manhunt is underway to track down the attackers.
The incident took place on the first day of a fresh 72-hour spell of general strike, that began on Sunday, by the BNP-led 20-party alliance.
The attack on Maitree Express came five days after saboteurs uprooted tracks derailing a train, and injuring five people and de-linking the southeastern port city of Chittagong with rest of the country for hours on railway routes.
"Since the unrest began, we issued directives for passengers to keep windows shut and loco masters to keep an extra eye on tracks and limit the speed to within 40 kilometres per hour instead of the routine 70 km per hour. This has caused a collapsed schedule but so far we have evaded deadly crashes," a railway official said.
