Two big hauls of explosives

Law enforcers Sunday came up with two big hauls of explosives, petrol bombs, improvised bombs and gunpowder as the countrywide non-stop blockade coupled with hartal enforced by the BNP-led 20-party alliance passed the 62nd day.
Members of the law enforcement agencies made the recoveries both in Dhaka and Chittagong. The explosives were believed to have been stored there for carrying out large-scale sabotage, officials concerned said.       
Acting on a tip-off, members of the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) conducted raid at Kakrail and Sutrapur in the city in the early morning and came up with a big cache of explosives, improvised bombs, gunpowder and petrol bombs, RAB Media Wing Director Mufti Mahmud Hasan said.
He said three persons were also arrested during the raids for their alleged links with the explosives. "They (the arrestees) were planning an act of large-scale sabotage in the capital," he said without giving any further details.
In another development, police unearthed a den at remote Nunachhara Hill of Sitakunda in Chittagong from where they recovered 70 petrol bombs, 50 cocktails, 10 sharp weapons and ammunition.
A senior police official at Sitakunda Police Station said three people were arrested from there and they were planning to launch arson attacks on the country's prime economic corridor Dhaka-Chittagong Highway.
However, on the first day of the latest spell of 72-hour hartal, another burn victim named Subhash Chandra succumbed to his injuries at Dhaka Medical College and Hospital (DMCH) after 17 days of fight for life.
The victim breathed his last at about 11:30am, Inspector at the DMCH Police Outpost Mozammel Haque said. Shuvash was burnt in a petrol bomb attack on February 18 at Tiger Pass in the port city of Chittagong, he added.
More arson attacks and blasts marked the day as such incidents were reported at Nikunjo, New Market and Purana Paltan in the capital.   
 Several vehicles were damaged and several bombs exploded by the pro-blockade activists in the capital's Purana Paltan Intersection at noon triggering panic among the people in the area.
Following the explosions, police launched a crackdown and detained some people, who were later handed over to Shahbagh Police Station.
Alleged pickets also torched two buses at Nikunjo and New Market of Dhaka on the first day of the fresh spell of 72-hour countrywide shutdown. At Nikunjo miscreants set fire at around 10:40am while unidentified miscreants torched a bus of Safety Paribahan at 11:40am at New Market.
However, none was hurt in the attacks.
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