Police have arrested four active members of Awami League following cocktail explosions in front of Jatrabari Police Station, revealing that one of the suspects maintained mobile phone contact with fugitive party leaders.
Four unexploded cocktails were also recovered during operations across the capital.
Detective Branch (DB) Wari Division Deputy Commissioner (DC) Molla Mohammad Shaheen disclosed the details during a press briefing at the DMP Media Centre around 12:15pm on Sunday.
The explosion occurred around 8pm on Friday in front of Jatrabari Police Station, injuring an auto-rickshaw driver and prompting a police case.
Analysing closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage, officers identified suspect Md Rayhan Uddin, 35, and arrested him in Bangshal Police Station area on Saturday.
Based on information provided by Rayhan during interrogation, detectives conducted a drive around 12:15am on Saturday night at a 10-storey building located at 258 Jen Saha Road in Lalbagh.
Officers recovered four unexploded cocktails wrapped in red adhesive tape from inside a sack of brick chips kept beside a pillar in the ground floor parking area, which were subsequently defused by the DMP Bomb Disposal Unit.
Subsequent drives in Dogair area of Demra led to the arrest of three accomplices – Rasel Khan, 32, Ala Uddin, 28, and Abdullah, 28.
Confirming their political identity, DC Shaheen said Rayhan is the office secretary of Unit 6, Ward 32, under Bangshal Police Station for the Awami League’s Dhaka South unit.
Rayhan was previously arrested last year under the Anti-Terrorism Act in a case filed with Motijheel Police Station and served five months in prison before securing bail, after which he allegedly re-engaged in terrorist activities.
DC Shaheen confirmed that all four arrestees are active members of Awami League, which is facing a ban on its activities, adding that they carried out the explosions to instill public panic for political motives.
He noted that similar blasts had occurred across various parts of Dhaka over the past two to three days, with the Jatrabari explosion being part of that broader pattern.
Detectives plan to file petitions in court to take the arrestees on remand to investigate why they carried out the attack and identify others involved.
Asked whether Rayhan maintains contact with fugitive Awami League leaders, DC Shaheen confirmed, “Yes, there is mobile communication with them. We are analysing these. Details will be known after bringing them into remand.”
