Bangladesh police on Tuesday questioned four suspected Islamic militants over a 2004 grenade attack that injured the British envoy to Dhaka and killed three people, police said. The men, who have been remanded in custody for 10 days, were arrested on Sunday and Monday and were being questioned in the capital Dhaka, a police intelligence officer told AFP. “Two of them are madrassa students and all four were arrested in connection with the grenade attack on the British high commissioner (ambassador),” the officer said, speaking on condition of anonymity. “We’re pretty certain they belong to the banned Islamic group Harkatul Jihad al Islami,” he said, adding police would make a further announcement soon.Anwar Choudhury, who is still the British high commissioner to Dhaka, suffered minor injuries in the May 2004 blast, which left three dead and 50 injured. “We’re pleased with the current progress made by the Bangladeshi authorities,” he said in a statement. “In memory of those who died and the many injured, we hope that justice will be done and trust that due process will follow,” he added.
The alleged leader of Harkatul Jihad al IslamiÂ’s Bangladesh chapter Mufti Abdul Hannan was arrested by Bangladesh police last October. Hannan, a veteran of the fighting against the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in the 1980s, was detained in connection with his alleged role in a plot to blow up former prime minister and main opposition leader Sheikh Hasina Wajed in 2000. He was also questioned over the bomb attacks now blamed on JMB. He was later charged in connection with a series of earlier explosions at cinemas and other targets and is still in custody awaiting trial.