Eight cocktails explode, bus torched in Dhaka

At least eight crude bombs exploded at different locations and a bus was set on fire in a series of incidents across Dhaka from Friday evening to early Saturday.

The explosions took place in Adabor, Shahbagh, Khilgaon, the airport area and Mirpur's Kalshi, while a bus of Baishakhi Paribahan was torched near Coca-Cola intersection on Pragati Sarani.

No casualties were reported in any of the incidents.

According to police and other sources, the first explosion occurred inside the headquarters of the Ansar office in Khilgaon around 7:55pm on Friday.

Khilgaon Police Station Officer-in-Charge Saiful Islam said the crude bomb might have been thrown from the rooftop of a nearby building or from a location below.

Around 9:05pm, two crude bombs exploded in front of Adabor Police Station. Unknown miscreants arrived on a motorcycle, carried out the attack and quickly fled the scene, said Fazlul Haque, additional deputy commissioner (second-in-command) of the Tejgaon Division of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP).

Later, at around 10:20pm, miscreants riding a motorcycle threw a crude bomb targeting a police patrol vehicle in front of the IB gate under Shahbagh Police Station.

Another explosion occurred beside July Chattar in Shahbagh at around 12:01am on Saturday, said Sub-Inspector Abdul Khaleque, duty officer of Shahbagh Police Station.

At around 12:15am, two consecutive crude bomb explosions took place at the airport roundabout. 

Airport Police Station Officer-in-Charge Kamrul Hasan Talukdar said miscreants threw the bombs from the expressway before fleeing.

In another incident, miscreants arrived on a motorcycle without a number plate and detonated a crude bomb at Kalshi intersection in Mirpur before making a quick escape. 

A video of the incident shows the motorcyclists carrying out the attack and fleeing.

Deputy Commissioner of the DMP's Mirpur division Hasan Mohammad NaserRikabdar said police were investigating who was behind the incident.

Meanwhile, a bus of Baishakhi Paribahan was set on fire near the Coca-Cola intersection on Pragati Sarani on Friday evening.

The bus operated on the Savar-Notun Bazar route. 

It was reportedly set on fire by miscreants shortly after dropping off passengers at Notun Bazar. Transport company officials could not identify those responsible for the arson.

Police have started analysing CCTV footage from the affected areas to identify those involved in the explosions and bus arson.