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Published : 26 Jul 2026, 03:33 PM
Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed does not believe the pipe bomb found beneath a Motijheel metro rail station was planted to target the Hindu community's Rath Yatra procession.
He called its discovery that day "coincidental”.
On Sunday after an event at the Secretariat, he said all agencies had worked in coordination to ensure the procession of the Hindu Chariot Festival passed off smoothly.
"The pipe bomb was found that day purely by coincidence. I don't believe it had any connection with the Rath Yatra," he added.
Police, however, suspect the bomb may have been planted to target the Rath Yatra and say its timely discovery helped avert a major disaster.
Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) Additional Commissioner (Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime) Mohammad Shamsul Haque said the bomb had been attached to an umbrella in such a way that it would have exploded if someone had pressed the button to open it.
He said police and other law-enforcing agencies are investigating who was behind the incident and what their motive was.
The device was discovered on Friday.
At the time, Motijheel Zone Assistant Commissioner of Police Hussain Muhammad Farabi said police had found what appeared to be a cocktail bomb inside an abandoned umbrella beneath the metro station after local people noticed a light flashing inside it.
Police cordoned off the area before the DMP Bomb Disposal Unit arrived and rendered the device safe, he added.
Later on Friday night, a Bomb Disposal Unit officer told bdnews24.com the umbrella had actually contained a powerful improvised explosive device (IED), commonly known as a pipe bomb.
He said the device contained around 1.5kg of sulphur along with barbed wire and sharp metal fragments.
According to the officer, batteries and an electrical circuit had been fitted so that pressing the umbrella's opening button would have triggered the explosion, sending metal fragments flying into nearby people.
DMP Detective Branch chief Additional Commissioner Shafiqul Islam said investigators suspect the bomb may have been planted because of the Rath Yatra procession, though the investigation is continuing.
Sub-Inspector Md Mukta of Motijheel Police Station has filed a case under the Explosives Act against unidentified people.
The case says the bomb had been planted as part of a premeditated attempt to damage the government's image and endanger public safety through an explosion.
One passer-by was injured while the bomb was being defused on Friday night.
