Monday, Dec 09, 2002
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By Haroon Habib
All the four were arrested from their houses in Dhaka late last night within hours of the blasts. They are being interrogated at the Detective Branch office but are yet to be implicated in the case. Begum Zia, who visited the victims in Mymensingh hospitals and the damaged cinema halls, alleged that those who were trying to malign Bangladesh abroad were behind this. ``We have ordered a judicial inquiry into the incidents and stern action will be taken.'' She said that there was evidence of the involvement of ``vested quarters''. She did not elaborate. Begum Zia, accompanied by senior Ministers, has also ordered urgent medical care for the injured. State-run BTV and Bangladesh radio said the toll could be 17, but unofficial estimates put it at 20. Thirteen of the dead have been identified so far. The State Minister for Energy, in-charge of Mymensigh district, A.K.M. Mosharraf Hossain, said the attack could have been ``a planned sabotage''. The Home Minister, Altaf Hossain Chowdhury, was quoted as saying by Reuters that the police suspected that the attack could be ``the work of Osama bin Laden's Al-Qaeda network or some other terror group''. But he also said that it might be the Government's political opponents' ``bid to destabilise the administration.'' He ordered a nationwide security alert. (Later, the Home Minister denied at a news conference that he said the blasts were "the work of Osama bin Laden's Al-Qaeda network". ``What I have said is it is an act of sabotage.'') Witnesses and hospital sources said the serial blasts occurred in movie houses packed with Id holiday-makers. Loudspeakers blared messages urging the people to donate blood for the injured said to be ``in a critical condition''. Reports said hospital authorities faced a crisis because of lack of doctors. The Inspector-General of Police, Modabbir Hossain Chowdhury, told the UNB news agency that he apprehended that ``an organised group'' had engineered the blasts. Army explosive experts collected samples of the splinters for testing. Initially, it was found that the bombs were packed with powerful explosives and were of foreign origin. This is the second incident of bombing of theatres in the country in a little over two months. The arrested journalist-columnists are Shariar Kabir and Prof. Muntasir Mamun, the Opposition leader, Saber Hossain Chowdhury, and ex-students leader, Shafi Ahmed. Mr. Kabir was first arrested after the alliance Government came to power last year on the charge of indulging in ``anti-state'' activities. Mr. Kabir, also convener of the ``national committee to try the war criminals of 1971'', went to Kolkata to make a documentary on the exodus of Hindus following post-election persecution. He was on bail when he was re-arrested. Mr. Mamun is a Dhaka university professor, popular columnist and critic of the ruling BNP-Jamaat Government. Mr. Chowdhury, former Deputy Minister and Political Secretary to the Opposition leader, Sheikh Hasina, was earlier arrested by the army in October but released on court's order recently. Mr. Ahmed was a former student leader and is now an Awami League leader. Most pro-liberation political parties, including the Awami League, have sharply protested the arrests. They said the alliance Government was trying to divert the people's attention from ``real issues''.
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