Two men were beaten by a mob and handed over to Shahbagh police on Sunday evening after a series of cocktail (crude bomb) explosions on the Dhaka University campus.
One of the detainees, while crying, claimed he was involved in Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) politics and urged those present to verify his identity with a local Union Parishad member.
At least four cocktail explosions were reported on the campus that evening, according to initial accounts. After the blasts, people present at the scene, including leaders and activists of Chhatra Dal (BNP’s student wing), detained the two men, assaulted them, and handed them over to Shahbagh police station. Their identities were not immediately known.
While being taken to the police station after the beating, one young man repeatedly said, “I do BNP politics, brother” (“আমি বিএনপি করি ভাই”). He also asked those present to contact a local Union Parishad member to check his background.
Dhaka University Proctor Professor Md. Israfil Prang confirmed that following a cocktail explosion near the Teacher-Student Centre (TSC), students detained two people and handed them over to the proctorial team. Security was subsequently tightened on the campus, and the university administration is investigating who carried out the explosions and for what purpose.
Preliminary assessments suggested possible involvement of the banned Chhatra League (the student wing of the Awami League), though law-enforcement agencies had issued no official statement on the matter as of Sunday night.
The incidents formed part of a wider pattern of crude bomb explosions across the capital from Sunday evening onward. Separate blasts were reported in front of Khilkhet police station (two explosions around 11 pm, confirmed by duty officer SI Sohel Ahmed), outside Hotel Radisson, at Pallabi police station, near the CID headquarters, and in Mirpur-1. Miscreants also set fire to a school bus in Bhatara. In one of the incidents, an SRB member sustained minor injuries.
Police and university authorities are examining CCTV footage and other evidence. No official confirmation of casualties from the university campus explosions had been released by late Sunday. Investigations continue into the coordinated nature of the blasts and those responsible.