As many as 2,700 Ansar personnel have been deployed to provide security on railway lines after several trains, including the Mohanganj Express, became the victim of sabotage and arson attacks.

They have been deployed for two months starting this Friday, said Zahidul Islam, an Ansar & Village Defence Party spokesman.

He said 150 'risky areas' have been identified in five of the six railway districts, where Ansar members will be stationed on railway lines and trains across the country.

Bangladesh Railway divides the country into six railway districts: Dhaka, Sylhet, Chattogram, Khulna, Syedpur, and Paksey. Among them, 55 spots in Dhaka, 18 in Sylhet, 25 in Chattogram, 30 in Syedpur, and 22 in Khulna have been identified as the 'most dangerous' locations on the railway.

The home ministry made the deployment decision on Thursday based on the railways' needs, said Ahsan Ullah, the director (Integration) of Ansar and VDP.

Letters have been sent to each district commander regarding the deployment.

He said that Ansar members, remunerated with a daily allowance, will be allocated with 1,400 assigned to the railway's eastern section and 1,300 to the western section.

Morshed Alam, an additional DIG of the Railway Police, said that the deployment of Ansar members will be supervised by their respective district Ansar Adjutants.

On Tuesday, the Mohanganj Express was set ablaze by arsonists in Dhaka amid a transport blockade called by the BNP.

Three compartments of the train were completely gutted in the incident. Four people, including a child, were burnt to death in the fire.

On that day, Railway Minister Nurul Islam Sujan declared the initiative to deploy Ansar personnel to prevent rail sabotage.

Earlier on Dec 13, seven coaches of the Mohanganj Express were derailed in the early morning hours as criminals uprooted the connecting plates from the railway tracks.

One person was killed, and several others, including the locomaster of the train, sustained severe injuries.

Since BNP's rally on Oct 28, multiple trains have been set on fire in different parts of the country, including Dhaka, Sylhet, Jamalpur, Joypurhat and Narayaganj.

The police and leaders of the ruling party have blamed the BNP and its affiliated groups for the incidents of arson and vandalism in Bangladesh ahead of the 12th parliamentary elections. The BNP has countered with claims that these attacks are staged by the ruling party to undermine their antigovernment campaign.