IS claims responsibility for Science Lab blast on police
Staff Reporter, Dhaka
Islamic State (IS), the Middle-East-based militant outfit, has claimed responsibility for the recent bomb attack on the police at the Science Laboratory intersection in the capital. A tweet by SITE Intel Group yesterday said: IS claims credit for the bomb blast on police in the Bangladeshi capital. SITE Intel Group is an American company that tracks online activities of white supremacist and jihadist outfits.
Also yesterday, the police filed a case over the crude bomb attack on policemen. Sub-inspector Johirul Islam filed the case under the Explosives Act with the New Market police station, said officer-in-charge (OC) Atikul Islam.
Two policemen, including a security detail of LGRD Minister Tazul Islam, were injured in the blast at Science Lab intersection on Saturday. The crude bomb was thrown from the footbridge at the intersection around 9:20 pm, said police and eyewitnesses. The Site Intel Group had previously claimed ISs hand in the 2016 Holey Artisan Bakery terror attack at Gulshan. However, the police headquarters has refuted the IS claim. The law enforcers said the attack was probably carried out by domestic terrorists without any ties to the terror outfit.
Nevertheless, the authorities will investigate the incident, said assistant inspector general (Media) of police Sohel Rana, adding that a similar type of handmade bomb was used in a previous attack on police.
All police units have been put on alert as the blast is believed to have targeted law enforcers, Rana said.
In a related development, the Criminal Investigation department (CID) and the Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) have collected evidence from the blast site.
Earlier on May 26, a female police officer and another person were injured after a bomb went off near a police pickup at Malibagh intersection in Dhaka. On April 29, two traffic police constables and a community traffic policeman were injured in a blast at Gulistan.
