Fresh violence eruptead in Dhaka on Christmas Eve, just ahead of exiled Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) Tarique Rahman’s visit, after a man was killed in a powerful crude bomb explosion near the Bangladesh Muktijoddha Sangsad Central Command at the capital’s Moghbazar intersection on Wednesday evening.
According to police, unidentified assailants threw a crude bomb from the Moghbazar flyover at around 7:10 pm, which landed on the road below. The improvised explosive device is believed to have hit the victim, Saiful Siam, 21, on the head, killing him instantly.
The attack also comes at a time when security in the city has been heightened ahead of Rahman's visit. Son of former President Ziaur Rahman and former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, Rahman, who has been in exile for the last 15 years, is returning to Dhaka with barely a month to go before Bangladesh's elections, while his mother remains on life support.
The miscreants threw the bomb from the flyover onto the main road adjacent to the Assemblies of God (AG) Church, located at New Eskaton under Hatirjheel Police Station.
Ramna Division Deputy Police Commissioner Masud Alam told Jago News that a powerful cocktail bomb was hurled from the flyover. "The youth died on the spot after being hit by the explosive," he said, adding that senior police officers were present at the scene and an investigation was underway.
Meanwhile, an unidentified miscreant in Dhaka University vandalised the famous Madhur Canteen while chanting the poems of Kazi Nazrul Islam.
Following the incident, the security guards took the man into their custody and handed him over to the police.
The canteen is known as a living memory of the Language Movement, the mass uprising, and the Liberation War. It was started by Madhusudan Das in 1921.
Streetside tea-stall owner Faruk, who was at the scene, told Jago News that Siam had come to him for a cup of tea. “I was preparing to wash cups when there was a sudden bang. Then I saw Siam had fallen to the ground. Blood was coming from his head, and his brains were scattered all around,” he said.
Siam was an employee of Zahid Car Decoration, an automobile accessories shop in the Moghbazar area. Police said he had gone out to buy snacks from a nearby shop when the incident occurred.
Law enforcement agencies have cordoned off the area and are trying to identify the attackers and determine the motive behind the attack.
