Dhaka: Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) chief Khaleda Zia has been accused by police of "instigating" Tuesday`s arson attack on a bus in Comilla district which left seven people dead, a media report said Wednesday.
Former Comilla member of parliament (MP) and Jamaat-e-Islami leader Syed Abdullah Mohammad Taher has also been accused in the case, bdnews24.com quoted Tutul Charkavarty, the district`s superintendent of police, as saying.
According to reports, the attack on the bus also left 16 people injured, three of them critically.
A total of 56 BNP and Jamaat activists have been accused in the attack, a police official said.
Bomb and arson attacks on vehicles during the BNP-sponsored countrywide blockade since Jan 5 have claimed over 50 lives so far.
Zia, the former Bangladesh prime minister, called the blockade Jan 5 when police barred her from leaving the party office to lead the anti-government agitation.
The BNP-led opposition alliance had boycotted the general election held last year in January.
Zia`s 20-party opposition alliance has been enforcing a blockade across the country, demanding fresh elections under a non-party caretaker government.
Zia has already been named as the instigator in two earlier incidents of arson.
She, however, has refused to call off the blockade despite repeated requests.