Pallabi Police Station blast: Negligence suspected in handling of explosive

The probe committee that Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) formed over the Pallabi Police Station bomb blast will submit its report on Monday.

The blast that occurred on July 29, in Dhaka, injured five people – including four police officers.

Police denied the involvement of militants in the incident, although international extremist outfit Islamic State claimed responsibility for it.

Immediately after the blast, the DMP formed a probe committee headed by its Joint Commissioner (Operation) Monir Hossain.

He told The Business Standard that the committee will submit its report on Monday but declined to give any details.

Pallabi Police Station officers and top officers of the DMP's Mirpur division were aware that there could be a hidden explosive inside the digital scale they had seized from Kalshi graveyard, a DMP official said.

However, they did not follow proper safety measures, he added.

Also, police sources said explosives must be neutralised at the spot to avoid any accident, but the Pallabi police team did not do this.

They carried the explosive to the police station instead and it accidentally went off when the police officers tried to defuse it there. 

The DMP issued transfer orders amid its investigation over the incident.

DMP Deputy Commissioner (Media) Walid Hossain told The Business Standard that it was all part of routine transfers and the investigation was yet to be completed.

"When the investigation is done, individual responsibility for the blast will be possible to determine and the role of each officer in it," he added. 

Meanwhile, top officials of the DMP's Mirpur division were transferred 10 days after the blast.

DMP Commissioner Shafiqul Islam on Saturday transferred six officers, including Mirpur division Deputy Commissioner Mostak Ahmed, and Pallabi Police Station Officer-in-Charge (OC) Nazrul Islam to others posts.

Mirpur DC Mostak was transferred as DC for DMP's Protection Division, Additional Deputy Commissioner (ADC) Md Mizanur Rahman was transferred as ADC for operations at the DMP's headquarters and Pallabi zone Assistant Commissioner (AC) Firoz Kawsar was transferred as AC for welfare and sports, according to an official order.

Additionally, Pallabi Police Station OC Nazrul was transferred to the DMP's Prosecution Division.

Sources at the DMP said there is an allegation that the mishandling of an explosive inside Pallabi Police Station led to the blast after police claimed to have arrested three local criminals with it from Kalshi. 

However, the family members of the three arrested alleged that they had been picked up a few days earlier.