Cocktail explosions in Mirpur, bus set on fire in Dhanmondi

Three crude bombs (locally known as cocktails) were detonated in front of Shah Ali Market in the capital’s Mirpur area, while a private university bus was set on fire in front of Labaid Hospital in Dhanmondi on Monday.

Police said the explosions took place around 6:30 pm today near the Mirpur-10 roundabout, in front of the Shah Ali Market. Another cocktail explosion was reported on Khilgaon flyover around the same time.

According to police, three explosions occurred in quick succession. The identities of those responsible have not yet been confirmed.

Police suspect that the explosives may have been thrown from the pedestrian footbridge near Mirpur-10 roundabout. CCTV footage from the area is being analysed to identify those involved. No casualties have been reported.

Meanwhile, around 7:30 pm, unidentified individuals set fire to a bus of Shanto-Mariam University on the road in front of Labaid Hospital in Dhanmondi. No one was injured in the incident.

Shihab Sarkar, an officer on duty at the fire service and civil defence control room, told Prothom Alo that a unit from the Mohammadpur fire station was dispatched to the scene after they received the report of the fire.

Assistant commissioner Shah Mostafa Tarikuzzaman of the Dhanmondi Division of Dhaka Metropolitan Police said that several students of the university had been on board the bus, but they were able to get off safely once the fire broke out. The fire service was working to extinguish the blaze.

Earlier in the day, seven separate cocktail explosions occurred at four locations across the capital. These included one outside the headquarters of Grameen Bank in Mirpur; two in and outside the premises of “Prabartana,” the food business of Farida Akhter, adviser to the Department of Fisheries and Livestock, on Sir Syed Road in Mohammadpur; two in front of Midas Centre in Dhanmondi; and two more outside Ibn Sina Hospital in Dhanmondi 9/A. No casualties were reported in these incidents either.

Earlier, at around 5:40 am, a bus of Victor Paribahan was set on fire in Shahjadpur, followed by another incident at around 6:15 am near BRAC University in Merul Badda, where a bus of Akash Paribahan was torched.