A bomb went off near a police pickup in the capital’s Malibagh intersection last night that injured two people, including a female police officer. 

Assistant Sub-Inspector Rasheda Akhter Babli, 28, was near the vehicle when the bomb exploded around 8:50pm, Sergeant Enamul of traffic police department (East division) told The Daily Star. He said she suffered injuries to her left leg.

The explosion also caused head wounds to rickshaw puller Lal Miah, 50, he said. Both were taken to Dhaka Medical College Hospital.

The the rear of the vehicle was damaged and it caught fire.

Paltan Police Station Inspector Abu Siddique said the pickup was under the flyover close to a filling station and fire extinguishers of    the station were used to douse the fire.

Majnu Sheikh, on-duty constable of traffic [east division], said he rushed to the pickup after hearing the explosion. “I did not see from where the bomb was thrown.”

Rahmatullah Chowdhury, additional deputy commissioner of the Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime unit, said the incident of Malibagh yesterday and that of Gulistan in late April seemed very similar.

However, yesterday’s bomb appeared more powerful than the one hat wen off in Gulistan In April, he said.

Additional Commissioner Monirul Islam said police were yet to trace the criminals behind the explosion in Gulistan.

“We will try to find out if there is any link between the two attacks on policemen.” 

On April 29, two traffic police constables and one community traffic policeman were injured in a blast in Dhaka’s Gulistan area.

According to a statement of the Site Intelligence Group, the Islamic State claimed the attack.