APRIL 4, 2005
Posted: April 8, 2005
Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha
ATTACKED
Two bombs were thrown at the office of state-owned news agency Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha (BSS) in central Dhaka on Monday afternoon, local news sources reported. The attackers have not been identified.
One bomb exploded under a window of the office on the building’s first floor, while the other hit the wall and exploded on the road. No one was injured.
Two police officers were inside the building during the incident, local news reports said.
Police have been deployed to watch the building around the clock since March, when several hundred activists of the youth front of the opposition Awami League tried to mob the building, international news reports said.
The activists claimed the news agency published a false news item involving the son of opposition leader Sheikh Hasina. Hasina has threatened to sue BSS over the item.
The Bangladesh Federal Union of Journalists and the Dhaka Union of Journalists condemned the bomb attack, and said in a statement that it was a direct threat to the expression of opinion. “If political opponents find any report undesired they could send protests and even take refuge of the law if their statement is not published,” the organizations said.