Two arrested over cocktail explosion and truck fire at Padma Bridge’s Jajira end

Leaders and activists of the Shariatpur district Awami League and its affiliated organisations set off cocktail explosions and torched vehicles at the Jajira end of the Padma Bridge on Thursday morning.

Traffic on all lanes of the bridge’s southern end was halted for two hours from 6:00am to 8:00am Police from the Padma Bridge South Police Station later restored normal traffic and brought the situation under control, arresting two suspects in the process.

According to the police, the Awami League activists blocked the Dhaka-Bhanga Expressway at the Jajira end, staging protests at Naodoba and Tostarkandi areas. Around 7:00am, they set fire to a truck in Tostarkandi. Fire service personnel quickly arrived and extinguished the blaze.

During the unrest, two passenger buses were vandalised, and protesters set tyres on fire, creating panic on the road. Several cocktail explosions were reportedly heard at the site. The Expressway blockade caused traffic congestion stretching nearly half a kilometre up to Jajira’s Jamaddar Mor.

Golam Rasul, officer-in-charge of the Padma Bridge South Police Station, told, “Traffic was suspended from 6:00am to 8:00am Protesters positioned themselves one kilometre west of the bridge before police dispersed them. During the incident, a truck was set on fire, and two suspects were arrested. They are believed to be among the protesters.”