Three crude bombs, locally known as cocktails, were detonated across two court premises in Jashore town on Thursday night, sparking widespread panic and prompting an immediate security clampdown. The coordinated explosions occurred at approximately 8:30 pm on 12 November at the Assistant Judge Court and the Senior Chief Judicial Magistrate Court. Loud blasts accompanied by thick plumes of smoke unsettled residents and legal professionals in the surrounding area, though police confirmed that no casualties or severe structural damage were reported.
According to law enforcement officials and local witnesses, the assailants carried out the attacks while riding motorcycles. Moving along Mujib Road, the perpetrators first hurled two explosive devices at the Assistant Judge Court. One device detonated inside the court compound, whilst the second exploded against its outer boundary wall. Moments later, the attackers sped roughly 500 metres down the road to the Senior Chief Judicial Magistrate Court, where they detonated a third crude bomb against the perimeter wall before fleeing the scene.
Senior officers from Jashore Kotwali Model Police Station and the Detective Branch (DB) arrived swiftly to inspect the blast sites and collect explosive remnants for examination. Kabir Hossain, Officer-in-Charge of Kotwali Model Police Station, stated that miscreants had targeted sensitive locations within the town. He noted that security patrols were immediately reinforced across the judicial complex and adjacent neighbourhoods. Multiple teams from both the local police station and the Detective Branch have launched operations to identify and apprehend the motorcycle-borne attackers, with investigators actively analysing closed-circuit television footage from nearby establishments.
News of the blasts triggered swift political reactions in the district town. Later that evening, leaders and activists of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) brought out a protest procession from their party office in the Laldighi area, parading through Jashore’s main thoroughfares to denounce the attacks. Several leaders from the party’s affiliated wings also visited the targeted court premises, including Jashore District Jubo Dal Convener M Tamal Ahmed, Member Secretary Ansarul Haque Rana, and District Chhatra Dal Convener Kamruzzaman Bappi.
Speaking to reporters at the scene, the visiting leaders alleged that operatives of the banned Awami League were responsible for orchestrating the explosions at the two key judicial installations. District Jubo Dal Convener M Tamal Ahmed accused fugitive Awami League figures of attempting to destabilise an otherwise peaceful Jashore. He asserted that activists from Jubo Dal, Swechchhasebak Dal, and Chhatra Dal would stand alongside ordinary citizens to firmly resist anyone seeking to disrupt public order in the district.
