Dhaka Tightens Security After Crude Bomb Blasts and Bus Torchings

Security has been intensified across Dhaka following a series of crude bomb explosions and the torching of buses by unidentified persons, authorities said.

The first blasts struck parts of the capital on Tuesday, shortly after a special tribunal sentenced seven politicians from the former ruling Awami League, the party of ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Hasina has been in exile in India since August 2024, when she was removed from power after 15 years of rule in a mass uprising that left hundreds dead in July and August of that year.

Further explosions were reported in Dhaka on Friday and Saturday, and several vehicles were set on fire by unidentified people. Several people were injured in the blasts.

In response, the Dhaka Metropolitan Police has established more than 200 check posts across the city, with particular attention to entry and exit points, according to Niaz Mehdi, additional deputy commissioner of the force's Media and Public Relations Wing. He said surveillance had been stepped up at key locations so that residents could move freely.

Mehdi said those responsible for the crude bomb explosions had been arrested, along with many people accused of attempting to set cars and buses on fire.

Separately, the state news agency reported on Monday that the Dhaka Metropolitan Police had arrested 403 people and filed 47 cases during routine anti-crime operations across the capital over the previous 24 hours. It was not immediately clear how many of those detained were connected to the explosions or the arson.

Television footage showed officers checking vehicles and passengers' belongings near the Supreme Court, police standing guard on city streets, and a police car carrying accused persons into the premises of the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Court. Fragments of a crude bomb were also seen lying on a road after an explosion.