Blast in Sunamganj AL meeting: 50 injured
At least 50 people were injured when a powerful bomb exploded in a public meeting of Suranjit Sengupta MP in Dhirai upazila of Sunamganj district on Monday afternoon.
The opposition Awami League lawmaker narrowly escaped the attack he likened to the bomb explosion at the holy mazar of Hazrat Shahjalal (R) that left 10 people dead and the British High Commissioner wounded.
Twenty of the injured, including Sunamganj district Awami League president Nurul Islam Sarkar, were sent to MAG Osmani Medical College Hospital in Sylhet. Condition of 16 was reported to be “critical”.
Witnesses said a bomb blew off on the dais shortly after Sengupta, a Presidium member of AL, finished his speech at the rally at Jiorakhra of Jagannathbari in his constituency.
It was not clear whether the bomb was tucked under the wooden dais or hurled within a minute Sengupta descended from the dais. The type of the explosives used also could not be guessed by police immediately.
Around 3,000 people joined the meeting called against price hike of essentials, “misdeeds” of the government and “abusive words” by PM’s Parliamentary Advisor SQ Chowdhury against AL chief Sheikh Hasina.
Panic gripped the entire area after the bomb explosion at 4:55pm. “The injured were seen groaning and the unhurt to flee the scene,” says a spot account of the blast.
Some 20 people were given aid at Dhirai health complex.
--UNB
(Source: Bangladeshinfo)
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[Edited on 21-6-2004 by abhs]