The horrifying grenade attack of 2004 took place at an anti-terrorism rally organised by the Awami League (AL) on this day when the AL president, Sheikh Hasina, was wrapping up her party rally at 5:22pm in front of the party’s central office on Bangabandhu Avenue in the capital. Following the attacks, chaos prevailed, as people ran frantically for cover and smoke and confusion resembled the sets of a war movie. Dismembered limbs and blood-splattered bodies lay on the streets with people screaming for help, reminisced Nazib Ahmed, an eyewitness and the then security staff of Sheikh Hasina.

In an exclusive interview with The Independent, Nazib Ahmed, who is also the cousin of Sheikh Hasina and the current Prime Minister, gave a blow-by-blow account of the day at his Banani office in the city yesterday.  

The gruesome attack left 24 people, including Ivy Rahman, the wife of the late President Zillur Rahman, dead and more than 300 injured.

Hasina, then the Leader of the Opposition, narrowly escaped the attack but suffered damage to her right ear. Attackers left the scene without any difficulty, reportedly with the help of law enforcing agencies, he said.

Hasina held the BNP-led four-party coalition government responsible for the attack, saying it was a government-sponsored attempt to kill her. She demanded an investigation with the involvement of the international community.

“Within a second of the first blast, I realised it was a grenade attack. I was sitting on a chair at the back of the truck on which a makeshift dais was built. But when there was another blast, everyone was screaming and running helter-skelter down the streets. I immediately got on to the truck to save our leader Hasina. Amid the chaos and confusion, she asked us to recite Doa Yunus... ‘If we’re to die, we’ll die here; if we’re to survive, we’ll survive this way’,” Nazib remembered Hasina as saying.

“We were on the truck. Hanif bhai, Maya bhai and Squadron Leader Mamun created a shield on three sides to protect apa (Hasina). I covered her from the front. Our immediate plan was to take her to a safer place,” he said.  Mohammad Hanif was a former Dhaka city mayor and Abdullah Al Mamun was the Squadron Leader (retd), were members of Hasina’s personal security team.

Recalling those grim moments, he said, when they tried to get down from the truck to take Hasina to the sport utility vehicle (SUV) parked about 50 yards away, another grenade went off near the truck. He and Tarique sustained splinter injuries.

“We immediately got down from the truck and managed to take Hasina to the SUV. Squadron leader Mamun ran to the vehicle and opened its left door. Hasina was huddled into the car…  

“When apa was getting into the car, the attackers opened fire from the front and left side of the vehicle. The front and rear wheels on the left side got punctured by bullets. The vehicle still moved on and took a left turn to the Zero Point and sped away to Sudha Sadan, the residence of Sheikh Hasina, at Dhanmondi in the city…

“Only one thing crossed my mind that time. If the almighty Allah saves anyone, no one can kill him/her,” he recalled. He then saw the ghastly scenes—the injured lay on the street, bleeding profusely, while some groaned. Some motionless bodies were scattered on the streets.

“I saw Ivy chachi (Ivy Rahman) lying in a pool of blood, motionless. I also saw my cousin Bahauddin Nasim trying to stand up in a pool of blood, but failed,” Nazib reminisced.

“After we reached Sudha Sadan, we were scared of further attacks. Suddenly, apa asked: ‘Whose blood is this on my sari?’ We said nothing has happened. She again asked whether we all are okay. We replied that we all are fine,” he said.

Nazib added that it was mainly Mohammad Hanif’s blood that was splashed on Hasina’s sari.

“Our driver Matin kept his cool in this horrifying situation. It took about 15 minutes to reach Sudha Sadan. Getting off the car, Hasina gave some money to her party men and asked them to go to the spot immediately,” he added.

“Move… move...move now. Make arrangements for treatment of my party men with whatever means you have. No one should be left out,” Nazib recalled Hasina as saying.

Police used batons instead of extending help to her party men who suffered injuries. The members of the law enforcing agencies had even stopped the AL men from receiving treatment at the Dhaka Medical College and Hospital, he alleged.