Dhaka, Dec 29: At least four people, including two children, were injured after an explosion rocked a madrasa in the South Keraniganj area near Bangladesh’s capital Dhaka, local media reported.The blast occurred on Friday afternoon at the Ummal Qura International Madrasa in the Hasnabad area.
According to the police, explosives and materials used for making bombs were recovered from the premises, Bangladeshi media outlet bdnews24 reported.
Confirming the development, senior police official Mizanur said the cause of the explosion has been under investigation. “We are still investigating how the blast occurred,” he said.
Local residents said the madrasa has around 50 students; however, classes were not in session on Friday due to the weekly holiday.
Citing witnesses, a local journalist stated that the blast led to the collapse of the walls of two rooms used by the madrasa, with cracks forming in the roof and supporting columns.
On the other hand, a neighbouring building owner also reported similar damage.
According to locals, a man named Mufti Harun had rented the building for the past three years and was running the madrasa before handing its management to his brother-in-law, Al Amin.
The residents stated that following the blast, police recovered chemicals, crude explosive devices, and bomb-making equipment from the madrasa.
The property’s owner, Parveen Begum, said that she had no knowledge of any illegal activity taking place under the guise of the madrasa and added, “When I went there on Friday, I saw that the area around the building had been blown apart.”
Earlier on Wednesday, a man was killed after a crude explosive was hurled from a flyover in the Mogbazar area of Dhaka, police officials said, triggering panic in the busy locality, according to local media reports.
The explosion took place on Wednesday evening beneath the flyover in front of the Moghbazar Freedom Fighters’ Memorial, an area that usually witnesses heavy public movement.