A crude bomb, locally known as a cocktail, exploded on the road directly outside Bangladesh Bank in Dhaka’s Motijheel area on Thursday night. The blast occurred at approximately 9:30 pm on 12 November, shattering the late-evening calm of the capital’s principal financial district. No casualties were reported. Despite the sudden detonation on a public thoroughfare, passersby escaped without injury and no structural damage was recorded at the site.
Accounts of the incident indicate that unidentified miscreants hurled the explosive device from inside an auto-rickshaw passing by the central bank premises. The perpetrators remained concealed inside the moving three-wheeler as they threw the bomb onto the street, speeding away immediately afterwards. Upon striking the tarmac directly in front of the bank compound, the device detonated with a sharp bang, briefly enveloping the immediate stretch of road in thick smoke.
Motijheel serves as the commercial nerve centre of Bangladesh, accommodating the headquarters of the central bank alongside numerous state-owned and private financial institutions. Whilst standard banking operations conclude earlier in the afternoon, the adjacent arterial roads still see steady movement at 9:30 pm from late-shift office workers, roadside vendors, commuters, and public transport. The abrupt explosion startled pedestrians and motorists alike. Momentary panic gripped the pavement, briefly slowing vehicular traffic along the busy avenue.
Given that Bangladesh Bank is a highly sensitive state institution and a vital national establishment, any act of disruption near its perimeter carries serious security implications. The incident underscored the vulnerability of major urban thoroughfares to hit-and-run acts carried out from moving vehicles. Following the explosion, security patrols and vigilance were stepped up across the surrounding commercial zone to reassure the public and deter any recurrence. Law enforcement personnel have initiated enquiries to establish the exact motive behind the attack and trace the auto-rickshaw used by those involved.
