Bangladesh has executed a top leader of the country’s biggest Islamic party for war crimes that took place four decades ago, sparking violence in Asia’s fifth-most populous country.

A small home-made bomb has exploded outside a hotel in the Bangladesh capital where visiting Indian President Pranab Mukherjee is staying, police said.

An alliance of right-wing and fundamentalist Islamic parties, led by former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, appears set for a landslide victory in Bangladesh’s general election.