In the latest wave of terror strikes on the judiciary, two JMB members blew themselves up -- one near a police check-post at the entrance to the Chittagong court building at 8:44am and the other at 9:45am in a crowd of lawyers and their clients at the Gazipur bar association building.

The Gazipur suicide bomber died on the spot, while doctors until late last night were trying hard to save the life of Chittagong bomber, Abul Bashar.

The JMB has targeted the judiciary as a part of its professed struggle to turn the state into an Islamic shariah-based one. Two notes found with Bashar termed the attack a preliminary warning to the forces working to ensure security of judges and announced to continue the Jihad until 'an Islamic welfare state is established'.

Judicial activities across the country came to a halt yesterday as panicked lawyers boycotted the courts in immediate protest and later called a dawn-to-dusk countrywide hartal for tomorrow.

Hundreds of lawyers took to the streets in Dhaka, Chittagong and other cities and town, asking the government to ensure that no further attack on the judiciary and judicial officials take place.

The police held one Mahbub Alam Shahin, 25, from Gazipur hospital on suspicion as he tried to flee from the hospital refusing to take treatment. They had earlier sent Shahin to DMCH for treatment, suspecting him as a militant.

Shahin, however, claimed himself a stamp vendor.

Since their August 17 showdown against the democracy and state machinery through 459 orchestrated bomb blasts in 63 districts, the Islamist extremists have bombed to death four people including two judges in Jhalakathi and Laxmipur.

BNP Secretary General LGRD Minister Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan, who is now also in-charge of the home ministry, termed the bombers enemies of humanity, the state and democracy. He said the government is fully committed to exterminate the militants at any cost and restore peace.

WHEN ALL HELL BROKE LOOSE
Activities in the entire Gazipur district came to a halt, as most of the government and non-government officials came out of their offices immediately after the suicide bombing rocked the Bhawal Rajbari court area at around 9:45am.

The bomb exploded amid some 100 people, including 50 lawyers and their assistants and clients, busy on the ground floor of the hall building 2, the former library of the bar association. The association has nine hall buildings.

According to witnesses, the bomb went off in between 9:37am to 9:45am on the bar association premises located between the judge court in the east and the magistrate courts in the west.

Those killed in the blast are former secretary of the bar association advocate Amzad Hossain, retired army man Abdur Rab, Gachha Union Parishad former member Bashir Uddin, an unidentified woman of about 40 years and the bomber whose identity could not be confirmed immediately.

Of them three died on the spot while Amzad and the woman died later at Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH).

Advocate Golam Faruq, 40, former member of Gazipur Bar Association, and another unidentified person aged around 35, both admitted to Dhaka Medical College and Hospital (DMCH) in a critical condition, died at 10:35pm and 11:00pm.

The police and witnesses said the bomber, aged around 25, was wearing a black gown similar to what lawyers wear when he entered the hall building.

After the explosion, his body with wires tied around his thighs and waist was left on the floor for a couple of hours. Intelligence sources suspect the bomber might have carried the bomb on his left thigh, the flesh on which was ripped off in the blast.

The bomb was so powerful it torn away a ceiling fan and bent two others. The fire burnt all the furniture, files and other documents in the room. The shock broke all the glasses and windowpanes of the room, its upper floor and an adjacent building. Several ventilators of the room also splintered.

"I was writing a document when the bomb exploded with a huge bang, sending a wave of blaze towards me," said Nazimuddin, 42, a lawyer's assistant, adding, "And I lost my consciousness."

He was lying in a bed at Gazipur Sadar Hospital with burnt hairs and injured toes and thighs. Even two hours after the blast, he was shaking from fright.

Fazlul Haq, a trader who went to the bar association to consult a lawyer about a case, said he saw a man carrying a suitcase with wheels. "The man pulled the bag into the room and a few minutes later a powerful blast made me deaf," he described.

"All of a sudden I found myself surrounded by sparks and blazes," said advocate Anwarul Hossain Fakir, 30, who was preparing to go out of the room to the judge court. "In a flash I saw around a dozen of my colleagues collapsing on the floor," he added.

Every one rushed out of the courts and bar association buildings immediately after the blast. Fire Service and Civil Defence reached the spot after about 15 minutes and doused the fire.

"It took about 10 to 12 minutes to extinguish the fire," said a fireman, adding, "I saw severed limbs of the injured and the dead scattered all over the floor. People were groaning all around and the room was smeared with blood."

He said, "As I tried to pull out a body from under debris, one of his legs split from the waist." People with minor injuries ran and some crawled out of the room, narrated another witness.

The lawyers, the police and firefighters rushed the injured by rickshaws, vans, cars and whatever vehicles they found to the sadar hospital.

People in thousands gathered there to enquire after the injured and to take care of them. The police charged batons to control the thronging. The locals and the lawyers then took out a procession protesting the police action.

Doctors said they had to refer most of the critically injured to the DMCH. "Lack of medicine, blood and accessories as well as the waves of visitors made our task most difficult," said orthopaedic surgeon Kamal Mahmud.

Four patients were admitted to the hospital, 27 were referred to the DMCH, some others were admitted to various local clinics and the rest received first aids.

SLACK SECURITY ALLEGED
Lawyers alleged there was no security at the bar association building during the attack. "If there was a check-post in front of the bar association, today's incident could have been avoided," said a lawyer.

A police team was posted only in front of the judge court located in a separate compound, but the bar association remained unguarded.

After the August 17 countrywide blasts, the lawyers sought security from the deputy commissioner. Although police forces had been deployed for a couple of days at the gate, they were withdrawn later, said a lawyer.

The local administration was scheduled to give identity cards to the lawyers and employees of the bar association today, November 30, and start screening visitors at the gate, said another lawyer, but the bomber struck before that.

Awami League (AL), BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami took out separate protest processions in the district town. District AL later held a protest rally at Gazipur Muktamancha in the afternoon.

DMCH
Of the 27 injured people referred to the DMCH, 20 turned up at the hospital. The hospital authorities kept doctors and nurses ready and arranged additional beds and medication in advance on information.

One of the injured, an unidentified woman aged around 40, died on way to the DMCH, while advocate Amzad Hossain died of his wounds at the hospital.

LGRD Minister Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan, Law Minister Moudud Ahmed, Forest and Environment Minister Tariqul Islam and State Minister for Labour and Manpower Amanullah Aman visited the injured at the DMCH. Awami League leaders including Abdur Razzak, Suranjit Sengupta, Tofail Ahmed, Motia Chowdhury, Obaidul Kader and Asaduzzaman Noor, Gono Forum President Dr Kamal Hossain Workers Party President Rashed Khan Menon and Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal President Hasanul Haq Inu also visited them.

Lawmakers Jahid Ahsan Russell, Fazlul Hoque Milon and Abdul Kader Siddique, former Supreme Court Bar Association president Rokanuddin Mahmud, Inspector General of Police MA Qayum, DIG (Dhaka Range) Sadequr Rahman, DIG (Special Branch) Helal Uddin Badari visited both the spot and hospital.

CHITTAGONG BLAST
The suicide bomb attack took place at the entry point of Chittagong Court Building at 8:44am, our staff correspondent reports from Chittagong quoting witnesses.

The JMB suicide bomber tried to enter the court premises when some 20 policemen, mostly from Dampara Police Lines and the Special Branch, were taking briefing on their duty to ensure security at the court building.

The police stopped the JMB militant, Abul Bashar hailing from Nalua village in Tangail, in a bid to check him as he was walking past the cops.

"The militant then turned back, walked straight into the middle of the policemen and exploded the bomb," Constable Rashida of Khulshi Police Station told The Daily Star.

According to police, the powerful bomb, believed to be a plastic explosive, was strapped to his body and the bomber switched it on finding no way to enter the court.

Critically injured Constable Rajib Barua, 28, son of Shimul Barua of Aburkhil Khalifa Ghona under Raozan upazila, and leader of local Swechchha Sebak League Shahab Uddin, 35, son of Salamat Ullah of Premtala under Sitakunda upazila, were rushed to Chittagong Medical College Hospital (CMCH) where doctors declared them dead.

The suicide bomber got both the legs and wrists blown off in the explosion.

The death toll in the ghastly blasts may rise as at least five others were lying unconscious in the hospital with critical injuries.

Of the total 18 injured, all admitted to the CMCH, 13 were policemen while the rest include four civilians and the suicide bomber.

The injured cops are Prakash, Sriman, Raihan, Promotosh, Rafiqul Islam, Isa Sarker, Lutfur, Shamsul Kabir, Sunny Das, Shahjahan, Rajdwip, Saiful and Mahfuz. The other injured are Nasir Uddin, Abdur Razzak, Emdad Mia and Abdul Majid.

Hospital sources said the condition of the JMB man, constables Sriman, Prakash and Raihan, and Nasir Uddin were critical.

Lying in the stretcher at the emergency unit of the CMCH, injured policeman Saiful Sarker told The Daily Star: "Immediately after the bomber got inside our crowd, there was a bang and thick smoke covered the whole area."

"Some of us rushed to the spot and found eight policemen and another person (the attacker) lying in a pool of blood," said Advocate Jahangir Alam, a witness.

Visiting the spot soon after the blast, this correspondent found it stained with blood. A severed leg (believed to be of the suicide bomber), blown up pieces of human limbs and bloodstained boots and caps of the policemen were littering all around.

The police, meantime, recovered two hand-written notes from the trousers' pockets of the bomber, containing same texts written in Bengali and English in the name of JMB.

In the note, the attacker identified himself as a Fedayee (one who dedicated his life) for JMB mission for establishing the rule of Islam.

Two critically injured police constables Sriman Barua, 26, and Prokash Chandra Das, 25, were brought to the capital from Chittagong by helicopter at around 12 last night. They were admitted to National Institute of Traumatology and Orthopaedic Rehabilitation.

The note says it was a 'primary warning message from a dedicated Mujahideen' for the forces deployed for the judges' security. "We will continue our Jihadi mission until establishing an Islamic welfare state," it reads.

Top Chittagong police officers including Chittagong Metropolitan Police (CMP) Commissioner Majedul Haq visited the spot and the injured at hospital.

"The attacker carried the bombs hidden under his clothes and exploded them with the help of detonator," the CMP commissioner told reporters, identifying the attack as similar to that in Jhalakathi that killed two judges on November 14.

"We stepped up the security measures at the court and there was no lack in the arrangements. There was nothing to do to stop today's attack as the attacker appeared as a human-bomb to kill the policemen," he said.

Referring to the hand-written notes of the JMB, Majedul said suicide bombers seem to have targeted the police now.

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