Another blast victim dies
Another victim of Hossaini Dalan blast died at the Dhaka Medical College Hospital yesterday, raising the death toll from the bombings to two.
Jamal Uddin, 55, a Sunni, was a hawker who used to sell fashion accessories like ribbons, sequins, and laces at different areas in Old Dhaka. He breathed his last at the hospital's intensive care unit around 9:00am, said relatives and hospital sources.
Khwaja Abdul Gafur, an assistant director at DMCH, said Jamal died of severe head injuries. A five-member medical board was formed for his treatment after he was admitted to the hospital on Saturday, he added.
Jamal's niece Brishti told The Daily Star that though her uncle belonged to a Sunni family, he would visit Hossaini Dalan, the centre of the country's Shia community, regularly and offer prayers for his ailing mother.
In the early hours of Saturday, 14-year-old Sajjad Hossain Saju, also a Sunni, was killed when three improvised explosive devices (IED) were hurled at a gathering before the traditional Tazia procession was to be brought out to mark the holy Ashura.
The attack was carried out following the killings of Italian aid worker Cesare Tavella in the capital's Gulshan on September 28 and Japanese national Kunio Hoshi in Rangpur on October 3.
Global terrorist outfit Islamic State (IS) claimed responsibility for the three incidents, according to US-based SITE Intelligence Group.
Refuting the reported claims, the government said there was no organisational structure of IS in the country and that those killings and attacks were aimed at destabilising the government.
Investigators are yet to make any headway in the blast incident, let alone arresting any suspect. This is the first time that the Shia community in Bangladesh came under such an attack.
About 87 people were injured in the incident and most of them returned home after taking treatment. Though the attack apparently targeted the Shia community, most of the injured were Sunni.
According to investigators, five IEDs were hurled as the police recovered two unexploded devices at the crime scene.
Meanwhile, Jamal's family members said he lived on Riazuddin Road in Old Dhaka with his mother Ayesha Aktar. He has a daughter.
On the day of the incident, he went there along with some family members just to watch the Tazia procession and was supposed to return home after the procession, Brishti said.
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