It’s believed that a young man aged between 25 and 30 left the improvised explosive device in the police van at Malibagh thirty minutes before it exploded on May 26. He was carrying a rucksack. A little after 8 pm, the young man entered the police vehicle, left the bomb and got off the van. The device exploded after around thirty minutes.
The police feel that Islamic State or Neo JMB is linked to the explosion and their target was to kill members of the police force.
In the incident, ASI Rasheda Akhter, a rickshaw puller called Lal Mia and a pedestrian called Shahnaz Sharmin were injured.
Five hours after the explosion, militant organisation IS admitted responsibility for the attack.
In a matter of one month, there were two attacks on the police which are being treated with seriousness.
Calling the device improvised, police commissioner Asaduzzaman Mia said, “this was an improvised crude bomb and was aimed to create panic among the people of the city.”
We have seen such attempts made in 2014 and 2015 and ask the people to be alert, he added. However the officials involved in the investigation says, this was a time bomb.
Meanwhile, police have recovered CCTV footage from the area but the camera which would have shown the explosion scene directly, was disabled.
On April 29, a similar bomb was exploded near the traffic box in Gulistan.
Counter terrorism officials say that similar bombs were used in the two incidents.
After the Holey Artisan attack, almost all militant leaders were either apprehended or killed though it’s believed that a group called Don Bhai is still active.
Abu Mohamamd Al Bangali may be Don bhai, said counter terrorism officials.
“For the last one year, they recruited members and collected explosives and now are carrying out clandestine attacks.”
They are targeting the police to instil a sense of fear among the law enforcers and any attack on the police gets more coverage, which is publicity for the radicals, police officials feel.