Nasiruddin Patwary should be questioned over cocktail blast remarks: DMP

Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) Joint Commissioner Tofael Ahmed Mia on Friday said National Citizen Party (NCP) leader Nasiruddin Patwary should be questioned over his recent comments linking political demands to cocktail explosions in the capital.

Speaking at a press conference at the DMP Media Centre on Minto Road, Mia responded to a journalist’s question about Patwary’s remarks. 

“I certainly feel that he should be questioned. Otherwise, why did he say this?” he said.

Patwary had earlier told journalists that his party was on the streets with three demands: exclusion of the Awami League from Bangladesh, implementation of the referendum verdict, and justice for the events of July. 

“The government is not accepting these demands! If the demands were met, cocktails would no longer explode in Dhaka city,” he said.

When asked whether police would summon Patwary for questioning, Mia replied that he could not confirm it at present and that senior officials might provide an answer.

The press conference was held to announce the recovery of cocktail-making materials and 9,000 paper masks, along with the arrest of a suspect in South Keraniganj.

Police said a cocktail explosion occurred in front of Jatrabari Police Station on 19 September. 

Officers from Jatrabari, Shyampur and other relevant stations launched a coordinated investigation. 

Evidence later pointed to the involvement of Jahid Hasan Emon, a ward-level Jubo League leader.

In a dawn raid on Friday in the Bagashur area of South Keraniganj, Shyampur Model Police, assisted by local officers, arrested Emon. 

Based on information he provided, police recovered 1.5 kg of caustic soda, 1.6 kg of sulphur, 5 kg of marbles, 2 kg of 1-inch nails, 20 rolls of red adhesive tape and 11 rolls of black adhesive tape used for wrapping the crude bombs, 9,000 paper masks intended for illicit purposes, 30 packets of elastic bands for the masks, and a blender with a jar used to crush the bomb-making ingredients.

Emon confessed that the masks had been delivered to him by an unidentified van driver arranged by a leader from Lalbagh. 

He stored them at his residence for distribution among various leaders and activists. Two cases have been filed against him at Shahbagh and Lalbagh police stations.