1 Killed In Explosion In Dhaka As Bangladesh Crisis Deepens

A man was killed on Wednesday evening after a group threw a crude explosive from a flyover in the Mogbazar area of the Bangladeshi capital, police said.

The blast occurred beneath the flyover in front of the Moghbazar Freedom Fighters' Memorial, a spot frequented by many. Witnesses said the explosive was thrown from above the flyover and exploded on the ground below, critically injuring the victim, identified by relatives as a man named 'Siam'. He died shortly after.

"We gather that someone threw the cocktail bomb from the flyover, which fell on the victim's head and burst. It blew up his head. We are investigating who did this," said a police official.

Family members said Siam worked at a private factory and was in the area at the time of the explosion. His identity was not immediately known and was confirmed later by relatives.

Police cordoned off the area soon after the incident as panic spread locally. The attackers fled immediately after throwing the device.

Masud Alam, Deputy Commissioner of the Ramna Division of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police, said preliminary findings suggest the bomb was thrown from the flyover. "The motive has not yet been confirmed," he said, adding that an investigation is underway.

No group has so far claimed responsibility.

Tarique Rahman's Return

The killing comes at a particularly sensitive moment for Bangladesh, just a day before the return of Tarique Rahman, the acting chairman of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party and heir to the influential Zia political family. Rahman is scheduled to arrive in the country on Thursday, ending nearly 17 years in exile in London.

Authorities have been on high alert ahead of his return. Bangladesh Home Adviser Lt Gen (retd) Md Jahangir Alam Chowdhury has said that law enforcement agencies have been instructed to maintain maximum vigilance and adopt what he described as top-tier security measures across the capital. Officials said a "double-layer" security arrangement, combining state security forces and party-level measures, has been put in place across Dhaka to manage crowds and prevent unrest around Rahman's arrival.

Worsening India-Bangladesh Ties

The explosion also comes against the backdrop of a sharp downturn in relations between Bangladesh and India, marked by diplomatic protests, street demonstrations and tit-for-tat summons of envoys in recent days.

On Tuesday, India called in Bangladesh's envoy, Riaz Hamidullah, and sought a thorough investigation into the killing of Bangladeshi student leader Sharif Osman Hadi. The move by New Delhi came just hours after India's envoy to Dhaka, Pranay Verma, was summoned to Bangladesh's foreign ministry to lodge a protest over what were described as "regrettable incidents" outside the Bangladesh High Commission in New Delhi.

There have been protests outside the Bangladesh High Commission in Delhi following the recent lynching of a Hindu worker in Bangladesh, an incident that has further inflamed tensions and prompted strong reactions from political and civil society groups in India.

Following Hadi's killing, there have been protests outside Indian diplomatic missions in Bangladesh. Last week, a group of protesters attempted to storm India's assistant high commission in Chittagong, prompting New Delhi to suspend visa services at the mission as a security precaution.

After summoning the Indian envoy, Bangladesh's foreign ministry said it had conveyed its "grave concern" over what it termed "regrettable incidents outside the perimeter of the Bangladesh High Commission and residence in New Delhi" on December 20, as well as acts of vandalism at the Bangladesh visa centre in Siliguri on December 22.

Hindu Man's Killing

Amid these protests, a Hindu man, Dipu Chandra Das, was killed in the Mymensingh region, an incident that has added a communal dimension to the unrest and drawn international attention.

India last Wednesday also summoned Bangladesh's envoy Hamidullah to convey its strong concern over what it described as extremist elements announcing plans to create a security situation around the Indian mission in Dhaka. The Indian government said its action followed announcements by such groups of protests around the Indian High Commission.

In a statement issued at the time, the Ministry of External Affairs said that New Delhi "completely rejects the false narrative" being advanced by extremist elements regarding recent events in Bangladesh. It added that it was "unfortunate that the interim government has neither conducted a thorough investigation nor shared meaningful evidence with India regarding the incidents."