The death toll from the bomb explosion in Shariatpur has risen to three after another injured man died while undergoing treatment in Dhaka.
The latest victim, Arman Nayan Mollah, 25, died around 9:00pm yesterday at a private hospital in the capital, said Saleh Ahmed, officer-in-charge of Zajira Police Station, confirming the matter to The Daily Star.
The explosion occurred early Thursday (January 8), at Beparikandi village in Bilaspur union under Zajira upazila.
Earlier that day, Md Nabi Hossain, 22, died around 4:30pm while receiving treatment at Dhaka Medical College Hospital. Another man, Sohan Bepari, 32, was killed on the spot.
The OC said 12 people have been arrested so far in connection with the incident.
On January 9 (Friday), Sub-Inspector Abul Kalam Azad of Zajira Police Station filed a case under the Explosives Act, naming 53 people as accused, with police as the plaintiff.
The OC said the blast occurred while bombs were being manufactured inside a tin-roofed house at Beparikandi. The explosion blew off the roof of the structure. At the time, Arman and Nabi were critically injured and initially taken to Zajira Upazila Health Complex before being shifted to Dhaka as their condition worsened.
Photo: Star
On Friday morning, members of the Anti-Terrorism Unit’s bomb disposal team and the CID crime scene unit collected evidence from the site. Police recovered bomb-making materials including gunpowder, splinters, broken glass, wire pieces, adhesive, tobacco containers and marble stones.
During a joint forces operation on Monday in different areas of Bilaspur union, law enforcers recovered 45 bomb-like objects and several cocktails. They also seized bomb-making equipment, locally made weapons, meat cleavers, large hammers, axes, fishing spears, foreign knives, and a drone.
Locals said the tin-roofed house where the explosion took place had been built two months ago by Sagar Bepari, son of Abu Siddique Bepari.
The OC further said, on January 4, clashes broke out between two groups over establishing dominance at Budhairhat Bazar in Bilaspur union, during which more than a hundred crude bombs were detonated. One person, Jabed Sheikh, 20, was injured. Police later recovered four buckets of abandoned crude bombs during a drive.
He added that the clashes involved supporters of local UP chairman Kuddus Bepari and his rival Jalil Madbar, amid a long-standing rivalry for control in the area. Similar bomb explosions in Bilaspur on April 5 and November 2 last year also caused panic, leading to cases under the Explosives Act against both men and their supporters.
Kuddus Bepari was later released on bail, while Jalil Madbar remains in jail.
Locals claimed Sohan Bepari, the first victim, was a supporter of Kuddus Bepari and had been working under the instructions of Nurul Islam Bepari, the prime accused in the case.
