The BNP has sent a letter to the Dhaka office of the United Nations and various embassies claiming that state-sponsored arson attacks and sabotage are underway in Bangladesh. 

Shairul Kabir Khan, a member of the BNP's media cell, confirmed the information on Sunday.

He said the party sent the letter, signed by Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi, on December 28, and the BNP international affairs committee had confirmed that the UN secretary general's office had received the letter.

In the letter, the BNP alleged that with the connivance of a part of the state apparatus, three compartments of a train were set on fire in Dhaka on December 19, killing four passengers.

The party said two days before the fire, the Dhaka Metropolitan Police had instructed the chief of the health directorate to keep an adequate number of beds, emergency services, doctors and ambulances in government hospitals ready.

It blamed in the letter the administration for a clash between party men and law enforcement following the vandalism of the chief justice's residence in Kakrail on October 28, saying a part of the police force “obedient to Sheikh Hasina” had executed a plan to thwart its rally and make its peaceful movement questionable.

“Awami League activists in masks attacked the chief justice's home with the help of the police and set fire to buses and cars in front of the police hospital. They also killed a policeman in broad daylight.”

Besides, the party alleged that government forces had been behind the torching of public transport in various places during its hartals and blockades. 

The BNP claimed that these arson attacks had been carried out with the help of the Awami League government in order to have party leaders and workers arrested on false charges.