Protesters set a train ablaze in Bangladesh on Dec 19, murdering around four people amid a nationwide strike called by the opposition to press its requirement for the government to resign ahead of an election in January. It was the last strife led by against -government protests in which dozens of buses and vehicles have been set on fire, with around six people murdered since Oct 28 when an opposition rally turned violent. “Strike supporters set fire to three compartments of an express train,” said fire service official Shahjahan Shikder. “Four bodies have been retrieved from a compartment.”
It was not at the same time clear how many were aboard the train, headed for the capital of Dhaka from the northern district of Netrokona, when passengers saw the flames a short distance from its destination, the police revealed. There was no sudden remark made by the government, looking at the painful situation. With its top governers either imprisoned or in exile, the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) wants Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to step down and head for a neutral government to oversee Jan 7 polls it has boycotted. Ms Hasina, who is looking for her fourth consecutive term of five, has many times rebuffed the opposition calls to resign, blaming the BNP for the latest deadly street protests in help of its demand.