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Published : 06 Dec 2023, 03:14 PM
Police have arrested four people accused of detonating crude bombs across Dhaka, including the offices of the deputy commissioner and returning officer, and engaging in sabotage and arson.
The suspects have been identified as Ashiqur Rahman Panna, former Swechchha Sebak Dal joint convener Shafiqul, Sumon Hossain Rony, and Billal Hossain.
Ramna police arrested them from Dhaka’s Paltan and Mugda, and Munshiganj’s Gazaria area on Tuesday night.
The details of the arrests were presented by Dhaka Metropolitan Police Additional Commissioner K Mohid Uddin at a media briefing on Wednesday.
“On Nov 30, the last day for submission of nomination papers for the 12th parliamentary election, criminals targeted the office of the Dhaka deputy commissioner and returning officer in an attempt to disrupt the election process and stir panic,” he said.
Ramna police collected CCTV footage and began analysing it immediately after the incident, he added.
The footage revealed that Ashiqur had thrown a crude bomb at the deputy commissioner’s office from the roof of the National Board of Revenue building on its eastern side.
Panna took the stairs up to the roof carrying a red-and-white shopping bag and exited the building empty handed after detonating the bomb.
Panna was identified and arrested in a raid based on CCTV footage from nearby roads and using information technology, Mohid said.
In a preliminary interrogation, Panna confessed to his involvement in the bombing and also to crude bomb explosions at four other locations in Dhaka’s Ramna and Motijheel areas.
Based on information from Panna and IT, Shafiqul was arrested from Paltan’s Chamelibag.
Using CCTV footage and other technology, police also found evidence of Panna and Shafiqul’s involvement in nine incidents of sabotage.
The suspects tried to create fear and unrest among the public by conducting sabotage at more than 20 locations in the Ramna and Motijheel area following the BNP rally on Oct 28.
Ramna police then investigated each incident and arrested two more alleged saboteurs – Sumon and Billal.
In their preliminary interrogations, the suspects confessed to detonating crude bombs at 12 locations.
On Dec 3, Rony and Billal were travelling on a motorcycle with crude bombs intended to be used for sabotage, when they collided with a rickshaw near the Jonaki Cinema Hall near Paltan Police Station. Two of the bombs exploded on the spot, injuring he two of them.
After receiving treatment at the Sabujbag Police Station Health Care Hospital, Rony and Billal went into hiding in north Mugda, where they were later arrested.
