Malibagh bomb more powerful than usual crude bombs: DMP chief

The bomb that went off at Dhaka’s Malibagh intersection yesterday was much more powerful than usual crude bombs, Dhaka Metropolitan Police Commissioner Asaduzzaman Mia said today.

“Primarily we came to know that it was a crude bomb, but improvised. It was more powerful than any normal crude bombs,” he said while visiting Lal Miah, a rickshaw-puller who was injured in the bomb explosion, at Dhaka Medical College Hospital.

The DMP commissioner said, “It primarily seems that the crude bomb was kept at the abandoned vehicle of the special branch in Malibagh.”

He also said police have collected evidence from the spot to know how dangerous the explosion was.

Lal Miah suffered serious injuries to his head in the explosion, the DMP commissioner said adding that he underwent a surgery which went well but he is still in a critical condition.

The explosion was carried out by a vested quarter that wants to create fear among the public, the commissioner said.

But it cannot be said now if there is any militant connection to the incident, he said.

Apart from Lal Miah, Assistant Sub-Inspector Rasheda Akhter Babli, 28, was injured when the bomb went off near the police pickup at Malibagh intersection around 8:50 pm yesterday.

Both the injured were taken to Dhaka Medical College Hospital.

The rear side of the vehicle was damaged and it caught fire.

Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime unit, Detective Branch of Police and Criminal Investigation Department visited the spot after the incident.

Paltan Police Station Inspector Abu Siddique said the pickup was under the flyover close to a filling station and fire extinguishers of the station were used to douse the fire.

According to a statement of the Site Intelligence Group, the Islamic State claimed the attack.