DHAKA, 4 October 2005 — Bombs exploded at court buildings in three towns in Bangladesh yesterday, killing two people and wounding several others, police said.
No one immediately claimed responsibility for the blasts, but a minister said several people had already been arrested.
A 60-year-old man was killed and a lawyer was injured when two bombs went off at a court building in Chandpur town, 65 km east of the capital, Dhaka, the Chandpur police officer said.
Almost simultaneously, two bombs exploded at a courthouse in neighboring Laxmipur town, killing an 80-year-old man and hurting at least seven people, police and hospital sources said. Two more bombs also went off in a court building in Chittagong, 215 km southeast of Dhaka, private TV station ATN Bangla reported. No motive for the attacks was immediately apparent.
Chittagong divisional police chief Mohammad Mesbahunnabi said two of the suspects in yesterday’s blasts were “Islamic hard-liners”.
“The bomb that exploded (at the Chittagong court) was more complex than the ones used in the countrywide blasts on Aug. 17.
It was placed inside a tin and hidden in a large-sized book and hurled at the court,” added Chittagong Metropolitan Commissioner Majeedul Haq.
On Aug. 17, more than 400 small homemade bombs went off across the country in near-simultaneous attacks, killing three people and injuring at least 125 others.
Some of the blasts were in Chittagong, Chandpur and Laxmipur. Officials had been due to file charges yesterday against a number of suspects in that case.
“The charges were due today so it may be linked to that,” said Inspector General of Police Abdul Kaiyum.
Kaiyum said five people had been arrested over yesterday’s bombings. Officers were also examining a possible link with the arrest on Saturday of Mufti Abdul Hannan, the alleged Bangladesh leader of the militant organization Harkatul Jihad. “It is too early to comment but we are investigating this possibility,” Kaiyum added.
