Bomb incidents raise fresh security fear

 
A series of bomb-related incidents in Savar and Barishal on Wednesday triggered panic and heightened security, with a powerful pressure-cooker bomb defused beside a mosque in Savar, nine explosives recovered from a house in the same area, and a blast reported inside the Barishal Chief Judicial Magistrate Court.

The incidents unfolded as law-enforcement agencies were already investigating explosives recovered in Savar, raising fresh concerns over the presence and use of explosive devices in the areas.

BLAST AT BARISHAL COURT
A bomb exploded inside the main entrance of the 10-storey Barishal Chief Judicial Magistrate Court building at around 10:30am, triggering panic among judges, lawyers and court officials.

Witnesses said people inside the court premises ran for safety following the explosion.
Kamrul Islam, administrative officer of the Chief Judicial Magistrate Court, said senior police officials visited the scene following the incident.

“We are helping police identify those responsible for the explosion by providing CCTV footage,” he said.
Officer-in-Charge of Kotwali Model Police Station Al Mamun Islam said members of the Bomb Disposal Unit were working at the scene.

Samples from the exploded device had been collected for examination, he said.
Additional police personnel were deployed around the court premises following the incident, the OC added.

POWERFUL BOMB DEFUSED IN SAVAR
In Savar, a powerful bomb hidden inside a pressure cooker was defused after being found in an open field beside Laltek Ghora Mosque, sending panic through the neighbourhood.

The device, wrapped in black tape, had been placed inside a blue plastic drum in the field on Tuesday night. Local residents later removed it from the drum and left it in the open, apparently unaware of what it contained.

Police received an emergency call at around 8:00am on Wednesday and reached the spot, cordoning off the area and alerting the Dhaka Metropolitan Police’s Bomb Disposal Unit.

The unit arrived at around 1:45pm and evacuated the area before beginning the disposal operation. The device was neutralised at around 3:28pm, producing a loud blast that shook the surrounding area.

“It was a very powerful bomb. Senior officials will brief the media in detail about the matter,” said Nur Mohammad, inspector (investigation) at Savar Police Station.

The blast startled nearby residents.

“We did not know the bomb was so powerful. When it was neutralised, the loud blast shook the area. We were terrified,” said Nibir Hossain, a local businessman who was around 500 metres from the site.

NINE MORE EXPLOSIVES RECOVERED
The Savar incident came amid another explosives investigation in the area.
Earlier, a joint team comprising members of the Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC), the Bomb Disposal Unit and other law-enforcement agencies raided a three-storey house in Shyampur and recovered nine explosives and a large quantity of materials suspected to have been used to make bombs.

The raid was conducted at the house owned by Abdul Jalil on Thursday night after police arrested Md Arif Hossain, 28, in Hemayetpur with five explosives.

A bag, a knife and a lighter were also recovered from his possession.

Investigators said they had been tracking Arif from Kishoreganj and arrested him shortly after he got off a bus in Hemayetpur.

Following his arrest, police obtained information that led them to the house behind Shyampur Primary School. A subsequent search resulted in the recovery of nine explosives, a large quantity of gunpowder and other materials suspected to have been used in making explosives.

Savar Model Police Station Officer-in-Charge Saiful Alam confirmed the recovery, saying the raid was carried out based on information obtained from Arif.