Mir Afroz Zaman

Miscreants in organised way have carried out an unprecedented rampage in government buildings, using the ongoing movement of students as a tool to demand quota reform in government jobs in Bangladesh for a few days. Banani and Mahakhali toll plaza of elevated expressway, BTV Bhawan, Setu Bhawan, metro rail station were burnt one by one in this rampage which started by setting fire to the toll plaza of Mayor Mohammad Hanif flyover in Jatrabari. The fire service was not spared. Mirpur Fire Service Station was attacked. The fire service vehicle was burnt. Firefighters were also injured in the attack by miscreants.

Dhaka North City Corporation's regional office, Mirpur's indoor stadium has been vandalized by miscreants. Miscreants also ransacked government buildings like BRTA building, relief management building, health department. Police outpost and traffic box were burnt. The police station was also attacked. Never before in Bangladesh, such riots have been carried out in government buildings. Even during the war of independence in 1971, Pakistani forces did not carry out this kind of violence.

Not only in the capital Dhaka, the miscreants have rampaged across the country. The district jail and municipal and union offices were set on fire in Narsingdi. 826 prisoners including 9 militants escaped from the jail in Narsingdi. Narayanganj regional passport office, city corporation's city building ransacked.

The rampage of the demonstrators created anxiety in the public mind throughout the country including the capital. The government imposed a curfew at one point to deal with the situation. Along with that, the army was brought down. Many people are confined to their homes. No one left the house much unless necessary. However, the situation returned to normal within a short time after the army took to the streets. As a result, the curfew was relaxed.

Although the government has declared a general holiday from Sunday to Tuesday, government and private offices have been opened on a limited basis from Wednesday. Banking activities are going on on a limited scale. Transactions have also been launched in the stock market as banks open.

Public transport is running on the road. As a result, people have started to feel relieved. However, it is a matter of seeing how long Bangladesh will bear the wounds of the rampage that the perpetrators have carried out.

The miscreants went on a rampage in the Jatrabari area of the Dhaka-Chittagong highway throughout the night. The area was occupied by the protesters on Thursday. Also, in the second round, the toll plaza of Hanif flyover was set on fire.

The attackers took positions in different areas of the capital in groups with sticks. Along with that, riots were carried out in one government establishment after another. BTRCA's data center was set on fire. As a result, the internet service is stopped.

Due to this, the residents of the capital suffered greatly due to gas and electricity. There are many fears in the public mind. After being closed for six days, it was possible to start broadband services on a limited basis last Tuesday night.

Earlier, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina held a meeting with businessmen at her office on Monday. The Prime Minister highlighted the attack on various government facilities there. She said, BTV building was set on fire, Setu building was set on fire, Mohakhali database storage attack-fire, Metrorail station attack, Shanir Akhra attack on Hanif flyover toll box, PBI office fire, disaster management directorate fire, elevated expressway toll plaza fire. In the meeting, the businessmen promised to follow the instructions of the Prime Minister.

The Prime Minister said that the prison in Narsingdi was attacked and the prisoners were taken out, some of them were caught. She also demanded that the miscreants who attacked various establishments be brought to justice.

State Minister for Information Mohammad A. Arafat said the attacks were planned. The way militants attack.

Miscreants vandalized various floors of the BRTA building and set it on fire. Valuables were looted. The miscreants set fire to the vehicles in front of the bridge building at Mohakhali. Also, fire was set on the ground floor of the building. 55 cars of the bridge section were completely burnt by the fire they set. Bangabandhu corner, reception center, auditorium, day-care center on the ground floor of Setu Bhavan were also burnt. The upper floor of the bridge building was also burnt. Valuables of the building were looted. Banani and Mohakhali toll plazas of Dhaka Elevated Expressway were attacked by miscreants.

Some regional offices of Dhaka North City Corporation were attacked and 30 cars were set on fire, 17 cars were vandalized. Spray machine for spraying mosquito repellent, destroyed mosquito repellent, destroyed street lights. The attackers set fire to vehicles in the basement and in front of the disaster management building in Mohakhali. The building was also set on fire. 53 cars and 16 motorcycles were completely burnt in this attack. The building's electrical substation, servers, emergency response coordination center, office equipment were also damaged. The assailants have carried out large-scale vandalism at Mirpur-10 and Kazipara stations of Metrorail. Ticket vending machines, computers, printers, schedule monitors, have been dismantled. The access control gate was damaged. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina visited the damaged metro rail station on Thursday (July 25).

According to the Dhaka Metropolitan Police, in the violence of the last few days, about four and a half million rupees were damaged by setting fire to various structures of the traffic department of the DMP. The office of Traffic Deputy Commissioner in Gulshan has been burnt down. Miscreants attacked Bangladesh Council of Science and Industrial Research-BCSIR in Dhanmondi and vandalized eight vehicles.

The miscreants set fire to the regional passport office in the signboard area of the Dhaka-Narayanganj link road. The four-storied building was completely burnt. 8,000 passports made to be given to customers were burnt.

Narayanganj district office of PBI, railway gate number two police box of the city, city building of Narayanganj city corporation were set on fire. In this, the front desk of the building, some cars kept in front of the building were burnt.