Staff Correspondent
A market was vandalised and 20 people were injured, mostly by splinters, as a crude bomb went off in an anti-blockade procession led by shipping minister Shajahan Khan at Gulshan-2 on Monday afternoon.
Locals said that a crude bomb blasted at the tail of the anti-blockade procession when it was on its way to besiege BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia’s office in Gulshan.
The agitated pro-government activists went berserk and vandalised a nearby shopping mall immediately after the blast.
Eight of the injured were rushed to United Hospital. Two of the injured were in critical condition, said hospital officials.
The officials said that critically injured Al-Amin and Anas Sarker were referred to National Institute of Traumatology and Orthopaedics Rehabilitation.
The institute’s emergency department officials said that they did not received any such patients from Gulshan blast. Police also could not ensure where the injured took treatment.
United Hospital officials, preferring anonymity, told New Age that one of the injured, Al-Amin, was in critical condition as he suffered huge blow into the left leg.
Three injured were taken to Dhaka Medical College Hospital with minor injuries and released after primary treatments.
Fifteen injured were undergoing treatment at Enam Medical College Hospital at Savar.
One of them was in critical condition and now in intensive care unit, said Eman Medical officials.
The bomb was a powerful crude bomb, said Detective Branch bomb disposal team inspector Azizul Islam.
Dhaka Metropolitan Police Gulshan zone assistant commission Nure Alam said that they primarily suspected that the bomb was hurled from nearby Metropolitan Shopping Plaza.
Sramik-Karmachari-Peshajibi-Muktijoddha Samanway Parishad, a pro-Awami League forum, which attempted to lay siege to Bangladesh Nationalist Party chairperson’s Gulshan office, issued a 24-hour ultimatum to arrest Khaleda.
The shipping minister, Shajahan Khan, also the Samanway Parishad convener, issued the ultimatum while addressing a gathering of pro-government workers, professionals and freedom fighters on the south entry point of road number 86 where Khaleda’s office is located.
He warned that the people would put her in Kashimpur jail if Khaleda was not arrested in 24 hours.
The newly-floated organisation announced that it would hold countrywide workers demonstrations on February 17 and bring out procession carrying national flags from Motijheel commercial area to Central Shaheed Minar in the capital on February 19.
Later, the crude bomb was exploded near Gulshan-2 intersection when the procession was marching towards Khaleda’s office at around noon. Later two more crude bombs were exploded on road number 90 close to road number 86 while Shajahan was addressing the gathering.
Police, however, intercepted them on the entrance of road number 86 around 12:15pm and the gathering was concluded at about 1:15 pm.
Source: New Age