DHAKA, 23 August 2004 — An angry mob set fire to a passenger train and protesters clashed with police across Bangladesh yesterday, a day after a grenade attack on an opposition rally killed 19 people and wounded hundreds.
Prime Minister Khaleda Zia ordered a judicial inquiry into Saturday’s attack on the Awami League rally in Dhaka and asked Minister of State for Home Lutfozzaman Babar to arrest and punish the culprits.
The train was attacked as it was entering a station in the town of Bhairab, 80 km east of Dhaka, said Mostafa-e-Jamail, a spokesman for state-run Bangladesh Railways.
About 20 people were injured, most passengers trying to flee while protesters doused at least 15 of 25 train cars with gas and ignited them, police said. Police fired tear gas to disperse the crowd.
In the capital, nearly 25,000 people turned up at a mass funeral prayer for the dead before marching through the streets. Police used batons when some of the mourners threw stones at them. No serious injuries were reported.
Saturday’s attack occurred as the country’s main opposition leader, Hasina Wajed, addressed supporters outside her party’s headquarters. She escaped injury when about a dozen bombs exploded.
Speaking to reporters for the first time since the attack, Hasina blamed Zia’s government for it. “Of course, the government is involved. It wants to destroy secular politics,” she said in an allegation rejected by the government.
“There is no truth in the allegation of the opposition leader,” Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan, secretary general of Zia’s ruling Bangladesh Nationalist Party, told reporters. He said the government has appointed High Court judge Jaynul Abedin to investigate the blasts and submit his report in the next three weeks.
Hasina has been advised to take a week’s rest after she suffered “internal bleeding in one of her ears” because of the loud explosions, said her physician Pran Gopal Krishna.
In that attack, at least 19 people were killed and more than 300 injured, including senior opposition members, ATN Bangla TV station reported.
In the capital, police recovered two unexploded bombs from inside Dhaka Central Jail and at a market outside it, an official said on condition of anonymity. Traffic was light on the city’s streets as many schools and shops were closed for fear of more violence.
US Ambassador Harry K. Thomas met with Hasina at her residence to express sympathy over the attack. “Those responsible for the blasts should be brought to justice,” Thomas told reporters as he emerged from the meeting.
Doctors were overwhelmed and appealed for blood. Many people were critically wounded in the blasts and the number of dead could rise, they said.
No one claimed responsibility, but Awami League General Secretary Abdul Jalil said Hasina was the target.
There were 13 explosions in all, witnesses and media reports said, and two unexploded grenades were found at the scene. Police gave few details, but Hasina’s aide, Saber Hossain Chowdhury, said the first blast was followed by numerous gunshots, and the jeep that carried Hasina away had several bullet marks in the rear glass.
The rally was called to protest a series of explosions early this month that killed two people, including an opposition supporter, in the northeastern city of Sylhet.
Shops and schools closed in about a dozen towns to protest the latest attacks. Protesters smashed vehicles and attacked shops, witnesses said. Security was stepped up across the country, authorities said, with paramilitary troops and police patrolling the capital in full force.
The Awami League called for nationwide general strikes on Tuesday and Wednesday to protest the bombings.
At least 134 people have died in bomb blasts in the past five years, Dhaka’s New Age daily said. Open air concerts, movie houses, opposition rallies and a shrine have been targets, it said. Investigators say most of the bombings remain unsolved.
— Additional input from agencies
