3 BNP, Jubo Dal leaders arrested with hand bombs, gunpowder: DB

The Detective Branch (DB) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police has arrested three people with 21 hand bombs and eight kilograms of gunpowder from the capital's Chawkbazar area.

All the arrestees are the leaders of BNP, claimed the police, adding that about 300 to 400 hand bombs could be made with the seized gunpowder.

The arrestees are Saidul Hasan Mintu, central Jubo Dal's agriculture affairs secretary, Bashar, Chawkbazar ward Jubo Dal vice president and Masud, Chawkbazar thana unit BNP's office secretary.

While talking to the media at the DB office, DB (Detective Branch) Chief Additional Commissioner Harun-or-Rashid said Mintu was assigned to engage in activities involving the throwing of Molotov cocktails in the vicinity adjacent to Dhaka Medical College Hospital during a hartal and blockade called by BNP. Unfortunately, he sustained a hand injury while exploding the hand bomb.

During questioning, Mintu confessed that he and his associates had manufactured the hand bombs themselves. In response to this revelation, DB conducted a drive in Chawkbazar, resulting in the arrest of two individuals, Bashar and Masood.

During the drive, law enforcers also seized 8 kilograms of gunpowder, 21 handmade bombs, aquarium stones, glass bottles, and one kilogram of incendiary material.

According to intelligence information and interrogation, the arrestees were not only involved in recent cocktail explosions but had been actively engaged in bomb-making operations since as far back as 1999. Their ability to explode handmade bombs in 2013 and 2014 helped them grab significant positions in the party, the DB chief said.

Among those, Jubo Dal member Rabiul Islam Nayan had been previously taken into custody on the charge of torching a vehicle in the Banglamotor area.

The DB chief disclosed that multiple hand bombs were detonated by miscreants targeting police during the night of 27 October. Another series of explosions occurred at a BNP rally on 28 October, supervised by Mintu in collaboration with Sultan Salahuddin Tuku, president of the central Jubo Dal, and its Member Secretary Rabiul Islam.

The arrestees were also found to be involved in making bombs intended for use during the 5 and 6 November blockade.

According to the DB chief, interrogations of the arrestees revealed that leaders of Chhatra Dal and Jubo Dal had been recruiting individuals with the intention of destabilising Dhaka city.

 He noted that they got a substantial list of names, and arrested a significant number of individuals.

"We will produce the arrestees to the court with remand pleas to aid in conducting more questioning, with the goal of identifying potential accomplices and revealing any additional plans they might be aware of," he stated.

"Moreover, our primary aim is to ascertain whether there are other individuals linked to any plan to blast cocktails for the 5 and 6 November blockade, especially if there are any bomb makers not yet in custody."