| More on yesterday's story. It's Ramadan! Happy holidays! |
 | | Police carry a bomb blast suspect, after he was beaten by bystanders, at a court building in Chittagong, Bangladesh, Monday, Oct. 3, 2005. (AP Photo/Mostafizur Rahman) |
Authorities ordered extra police and paramilitary patrols nationwide after several bombs exploded at court buildings in three Bangladeshi towns Monday, killing two people and wounding several others, police said. Police arrested at least six suspects caught by the public at the bomb sites in Chandpur, Laxmipur and Chittagong, according to a statement from Police Headquarters in the capital, Dhaka. Police also said they found some of the suspects carrying handwritten statements calling for Islamic rule. "We are thoroughly investigating to find out who were behind these bombing attacks," said the statement, which was signed by police spokesman Mahmudul Kabir. No one claimed responsibility for the blasts, but police suspect Islamic militants who have been blamed for several bombings in recent months, Kabir said. The bombs were taken inside the courtrooms hidden inside large books, it said.
| The old exploding Koran trick, was it? |
In the city of Chandpur, 40 miles east of Dhaka, a 60-year-old man was killed and a lawyer was seriously wounded when two bombs went off at a court building, a police officer there said on condition of anonymity. Police arrested two suspects from the scene, he added. Almost simultaneously, two more bombs exploded at a courthouse in neighboring Laxmipur town, killing an 80-year-old man and injuring at least seven other people — including a judge and a policeman, according to police officers and doctors. One suspect was held from the scene. Another bomb went off at about the same time inside a court building in the city of Chittagong, injuring one person, said witnesses and police. Chittagong is Bangladesh's second-largest city, 135 miles southeast of Dhaka.
| Mullah Mastermind was arrested yesterday, so they've gotta have Dire Revenge™... |
Three suspects were arrested at the blast scene, Police Commissioner Majedul Huq told reporters.
| That's the good part about Bangla: if the innocent bystanders get ahold of you, you're toast. And they might hand you over to RAB if you survive that experience... |
Huq said police later found three unexploded bombs. After Monday's attacks, security was tightened at courts, rail and bus stations, airports, shopping malls, banks, office buildings and foreign embassies. "We have alerted everyone to take all necessary steps against any suspicious persons or acts," said Mizanur Rahman, Dhaka metropolitan police commissioner.
| "The horse is gone! Lock the barn door!" |
The bombings came less than a day after two separate attacks, one thought to be the work of communists and the other blamed on Islamic radicals.
| Maybe there is something to the story about them working together... |
On Sunday night in the country's southwestern district of Satkhira, unidentified assailants hurled crude bombs at men playing cards at a village market, killing two and injuring three others. Two suspected members of Purbo Banglar Communist Party, a banned Maoist group, were later arrested, police officer Azam Khan said.
| Playing cards being a boorzh-wah passtime? |
Also Sunday, a bomb went off outside a hospital in the eastern town of Brahmanbaria, 50 miles east of Dhaka. Officials said no one was hurt. Near the hospital blast, police found a handwritten leaflet threatening "more attacks if restaurants stay open during fasting hours" during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which begins this week. Bangladesh has a Muslim majority but is governed by secular laws. Islamic militants have been blamed for most of the numerous blasts that have hit the country in recent months.
 Police caught Sohrab Hossain Bellal, 21, and Abul Kalam, 18, on the spot. Bellal hails from Panshai village of Kachua upazila and Kalam comes from Ranisara village under Chandina upazila. They are class X students of a high school. Police also nabbed Zinnat Ali, 38, suspecting his involvement in the bombing. Zinnat hails from Diarmondal village of Faridganj upazila.
After the blasts, police encircled the court and gathered evidence. An army team led by Lieutenant Colonel BM Zahid inspected the spot. Three persons sustained injuries when a bomb went off on the ground floor of the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate’s court in Chittagong, soon after two persons accused in the August 17 bombing case — Arshad Hossain and Abdus Sattar Mollah — were taken there at around noon. |