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Manhunt launched for BNP leader's son for staging blast
Bangladesh police on Monday launched a manhunt for the son of a top opposition BNP leader for allegedly staging a bomb blast outside party chief Khaleda Zia's office that had prompted the government to step up security for her.
Bangladesh police on Monday launched a manhunt for the son of a top opposition BNP leader for allegedly staging a bomb blast outside party chief Khaleda Zia's office that had prompted the government to step up security for her.
"We are looking for (Abdul Hamid) Paban", son of Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) secretary-general Khandker Delwar Hossain, "in line with the confession of one of his detained friends arrested in connection with an improvised device blast," a spokesman of Dhaka metropolitan police said.
Paban has been a controversial figure and is facing a series of criminal charges including for extortion. The previous military-backed interim government had sent him to jail and he is now out on bail following a High Court order.
The spokesman claimed Paban's friend Golam Sabbir and another activist of BNP's student wing Pradip Saha had confessed that Paban had hired two young men to stage the "mock bomb blast" to "draw sympathy of BNP higher-ups".
It was earlier reported that Paban was slightly injured in the blast. The incident had prompted BNP leaders to demand elite Special Security Force (SSF) protection for Zia.
However, doctors at United Hospital, where Paban was admitted after the blast, told reporters that he had not suffered any external injury and had reported there with a complaint of "chest pain".
"The whole charade was aimed at consolidating (Paban's) own position in the party," Dhaka police chief Shahidul Haque was quoted as saying by The Daily Star.
