DHAKA: Three people sustained minor injuries after a crude bomb exploded at a polling centre in Bangladesh’s Gopalganj district, about 100 kilometres southwest of the capital Dhaka, on Thursday morning during the national election, according to local media reported, citing police, according to Xinhua.
Md. Sarwar Hossain, a senior police official in Gopalganj, told journalists that the blast occurred around 9 am local time at the Reshma International School polling centre.
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The explosion caused minor injuries, he said, adding that all the injured had been taken to the hospital.
“Law and order are now fully under control, and voting is continuing normally at the centre,” Hossain said.
He said the blast appeared to have been intended to create panic, and authorities are working to identify those responsible.
Zahirul Islam, presiding officer of the centre, said the situation was quickly brought under control.
In a separate incident, a Bangladesh Nationalist Party leader, Mohibuzzaman Kochi, died after allegedly being pushed and falling at another polling centre while attempting to cast his vote.
He was rushed to a nearby hospital, where doctors pronounced him dead. Police said an investigation has been launched.
Bangladesh’s national parliament election began Thursday morning, with more than 127 million registered voters expected to cast their ballots.
Bangladesh voted Thursday in its first election since a deadly 2024 uprising, as parties crushed under Sheikh Hasina’s rule return to the fray with a powerful political heir facing an Islamist-led coalition.
Queues stretched outside polling stations in the capital Dhaka in the hugely anticipated election, while key party leaders have raised fears of threats or “conspiracies” to derail the vote.
More than 300,000 soldiers and police are deployed countrywide, with UN experts warning ahead of voting of “growing intolerance, threats and attacks”, and a “tsunami of disinformation”, especially targeting millions of young first-time voters.
“This was my first vote,” said Shithi Goswami, 21, a student at Dhaka City College, who lined up early to avoid the crowds.
“I hope after everything we went through the last few years, now is the time for something positive.”
Leading prime ministerial hopeful Tarique Rahman, 60, is confident his Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) can regain power in the South Asian nation of 170 million people.
But he faces a stiff challenge from a coalition led by the Muslim-majority country’s largest Islamist party, Jamaat-e-Islami.
