Bangladesh arrests one over petrol bomb attacks rocking capital

Attackers in Bangladesh set off seven crude petrol bombs on Monday across the capital Dhaka, including striking a building linked to interim leader Muhammad Yunus, causing no injuries, police said.

Dhaka Metropolitan Police said they had arrested a 28-year-old man in connection with "a series" of attacks.

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Police identified him as a member of the student wing of the outlawed Awami League, the former ruling party of Sheikh Hasina, whose autocratic government was ousted in a deadly uprising in August 2024.

The suspect is "being interrogated regarding multiple incidents", police said in a statement.

Those attacks include petrol bombs hurled overnight Friday at St Mary's Cathedral and a Catholic school in Dhaka, which also resulted in no injuries.

More petrol bombs early on Monday targeted the offices of Grameen Bank, the pioneering microfinance institution of Nobel Prize-winning Yunus, who took the helm after Hasina was overthrown.

Other targets were a business property linked to Farida Akhtar, a member of Yunus' cabinet, as well as two buses and a hospital.

The latest incidents add to soaring tensions in Bangladesh as parties gear up for the first elections since Hasina's fall, expected in February 2026.

Security forces have "intensified a citywide manhunt to apprehend all individuals involved in these heinous and cowardly acts of violence", police said.

Election campaigns which began in early November have been marred by violence.

One person was shot dead at a campaign rally on Wednesday, and two other people, including a candidate, were wounded.

Bangladesh has seen a spate of political and mob killings, while police have offered rewards for the surrender of more than 1,300 firearms , including machine guns, rifles, and pistols, looted during last year's unrest.