Dhaka steps up security watch
Police have stepped up patrols, surveillance and intelligence-led operations across the country amid growing law-and-order concerns, following a series of cocktail blasts at several locations in Dhaka on Friday.
At least five explosions were reported between midday and evening, police said, with no casualties.
The heightened security measures also follow a surprise street procession by activists of the banned Awami League and the detention of 23 people over suspected militant activity.
Senior police officials said fresh field-level directives had been issued to prevent any resurgence of activities by the Awami League, whose operations were outlawed following last year’s mass uprising that brought down its government.
The directives also put greater responsibility on local police officers, with officials warning that those responsible for jurisdictions where banned-party activities occur could face departmental action.
Two cocktails exploded near the Sohagh Paribahan bus counter beside Malibagh Rail Gate shortly after Friday prayers. Another blast was reported in front of Betar Bhaban in Agargaon around 6pm, followed about 30 minutes later by an explosion in Mohakhali.
A further blast was heard outside the main gate of Jatrabari police station at around 7:40pm. Police said they suspected it was also a cocktail, but the circumstances and those responsible remained unclear.
The incidents followed a similar series of blasts earlier in the week. On Tuesday, a cocktail exploded outside the Supreme Court shortly after the International Crimes Tribunal-2 sentenced seven people, including banned Awami League general secretary Obaidul Quader, to death for crimes against humanity during last year’s July uprising.
Three more cocktails were later detonated in quick succession on the Dhaka University campus.
“If such an incident occurs, departmental punitive action will be taken against them,” a senior police official told The New Nation on Friday.
The move followed a flash procession by Awami League activists in Gulshan on Friday, 11 September, despite the ban on the party’s activities.
The incident drew criticism from senior leaders of the ruling Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), prompting questions over police and intelligence preparedness.
“They (Awami League) gathered so many people – didn’t the intelligence agencies know? What is the police administration doing?” BNP acting secretary general Ruhul Kabir Rizvi said after the procession.
Against this backdrop, the officer-in-charge of Gulshan police station, Daud Hossain, and deputy commissioner of the Gulshan division, M Tanvir Ahmed, have been withdrawn from their posts, according to a police official.
A Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) order cited “administrative reasons” for the transfers. The changes, however, came after several days of scrutiny over the officers’ handling of the Gulshan procession.
The police official said the moves were part of a broader effort to ensure accountability at the field level.
Officers-in-charge at several Dhaka police stations told The New Nation that they had received instructions to remain alert and increase patrols.
A senior police official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said officers would be held responsible if they failed to prevent activities by the banned organisation in their jurisdictions.
Separately, the DMP on Thursday withdrew Md Rakibul Hasan, officer-in-charge of Cantonment police station, after an audio recording purportedly involving him circulated on social media, according to local media reports.
Rizvi again questioned law-enforcement preparedness while speaking at an event at the National Press Club in Dhaka a day later.
“A banned political party is suddenly trying to make an appearance. But how is this happening? What are the intelligence agencies doing here? … What is the police administration doing?” he said.
Police officials said the matter was being investigated and that action would be taken if negligence of duty was established.
In a separate development, police detained 23 people on suspicion of militant activity during what officers described as a clandestine meeting in the Tejgaon College area of Farmgate.
