Unrest In Bangladesh: Bomb And Arson Attacks Hit Dhaka Ahead Of Sheikh Hasina Verdict

Bangladesh was tense on Wednesday after a series of crude bomb and arson attacks hit Dhaka and other districts ahead of a special tribunal’s announcement of the verdict date in the trial of deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina, PTI reported.

PTI reported that unidentified assailants set fire to the Chandura branch of Grameen Bank in eastern Brahmanbaria early in the day. The predawn blaze damaged documents and furniture but spared the vault. Later, an abandoned railway carriage was torched at Dhaka railway station amid a spate of low-intensity explosions across the capital.

Although there were no other reported fatalities, several buses were set ablaze and crude bombs detonated at Dhaka University and in other parts of the city. That violence came a day before Thursday’s planned “Dhaka Lockdown” called by Hasina’s now-disbanded Awami League, which coincides with the tribunal’s expected announcement.

Grameen Bank was founded by Muhammad Yunus in 1983; Yunus — currently the Chief Adviser of the interim government — won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006 for his work on poverty alleviation and the empowerment of poor women. According to PTI, it was the second attack on Grameen Bank this week, following crude bombs thrown at its Dhaka head office on Monday.

On that same day, an organic food outlet owned by interim cabinet member Farida Akhtar was targeted and nearly a dozen mostly empty buses were torched, killing one driver. Low-intensity bomb and arson attacks also took place on Tuesday, prompting authorities to maintain a round-the-clock security vigil.

The home ministry said law enforcement agencies have been placed on high alert with orders to act with “zero-tolerance” against any attempt to create unrest. Police carried out security drills across the capital and deployed personnel at key locations.

“There is no cause for concern or fear. Dhaka city dwellers will stand against the Awami League’s subversive activities,” Dhaka Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sheikh Mohammad Sajjat Ali told reporters.

Hasina, who is currently in exile in India, is being tried in absentia by the International Crimes Tribunal–Bangladesh (ICT-BD). Prosecutors have sought the death penalty for her alleged role in ordering the violent suppression of last year’s student-led “July Uprising”, which culminated in her government’s fall on 5 August 2024.

According to PTI, UK-based law firm Doughty Street Chambers submitted an “urgent appeal” to the United Nations this week, alleging Hasina was being tried “in an environment charged with political vengeance” under “an unelected interim government with no democratic mandate.” The Awami League has also filed complaints in international courts in recent weeks, including a case at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague accusing the Yunus-led government of crimes against humanity, killings and arbitrary arrests.

Former foreign minister AK Abdul Momen, who served as Bangladesh’s permanent representative to the United Nations, last month wrote to the UN Human Rights Council alleging “political suppression, enforced disappearances, cases against military officers, impunity for criminals, and attacks on journalists”.

Authorities said they have arrested 552 Awami League activists in the past 10 days and detained another 44 on Wednesday for allegedly creating unrest. Officials estimate more than 3,000 members of the party — which authorities describe as banned — have been detained since last month.

PTI reported that last week the Bangladesh Army withdrew half of its 60,000 personnel who had been deployed on policing duties “for rest and training”, while additional Border Guard Bangladesh units were mobilised to maintain vigilance in and around the capital.

(With inputs from PTI)