B’desh: 1 killed in bomb explosion
Dhaka: One person was killed in a crude bomb explosion in the Bangladeshi capital on Wednesday, police said.
Witnesses said unidentified men hurled the bomb from a flyover in
front of Bangladesh Muktijoddha Sangsad, the central office of 1971 Liberation War veterans, in Dhaka’s Moghbazar area.
A crude bomb, hurled by unidentified men from the flyover, struck a person who died on the spot, Inspector (Operations) of Hatirjheel Police Station Md Mohiuddin was quoted as saying by The Daily Star newspaper.
Police said the deceased was a private shop employee who was having a cup of tea at a roadside stall under the flyover.
An investigation has been launched into the incident.
The incident comes a day before the arrival of Bangladesh Nationalist Party’s Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman, the heir to the influential Zia family, who is set to return home on Thursday, ending his nearly 17 years in exile in London.
Rahman, the 60-year-old son of ailing former premier Khaleda Zia, has emerged as a leading contender for prime minister in the upcoming February general elections.
“This will be a defining political moment,” BNP spokesman Ruhul Kabir Rizvi said while referring to the return of Rahman, who is the elder son of Zia.
His father, Ziaur Rahman, was a military ruler turned politician who founded BNP and ran the country as the President from 1977 to 1981, when he was assassinated.
The interim government of Muhammad Yunus has ordered an intensified
security presence coinciding with Rahman’s return, while the BNP aimed to gather millions of supporters to welcome him as a show of strength.
“We have taken both covert and overt security measures as part of our enhanced vigil over his return,”
Dhaka Metropolitan Police’s Detective Branch chief Nazrul Islam told reporters.
Bangladesh Civil Aviation Authority has said it would enforce a 24-hour restriction for visitors’ entry at
Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport from Wednesday evening to avoid crowd congestion.
Home Adviser Lt Gen (retd) Md Jahangir Alam Chowdhury said that law enforcement agencies have been instructed to maintain maximum vigilance and adopt top-tier
security measures.
