Bangladesh bomb: Police hold four

Police have arrested four men over the bombing of a Muslim shrine that killed three people and injured about 100, including the newly-appointed British ambassador to Bangladesh.

The four were detained last night, a police officer said.

British High Commissioner Anwar Choudhury received a leg injury in the blast during noon prayers at Hazrat Shahjalal shrine in Sylhet city yesterday.

He was flown by helicopter to a military hospital in Dhaka after emergency treatment at Osmani Medical College Hospital in Sylhet. His injury was not serious, doctors said.

Bangladeshi-born Mr Choudhury, 44, was visiting the shrine after assuming his post last week.

No one claimed responsibility for the blast in Sylhet, 120 miles north east of Dhaka.

A police officer wounded in the blast died overnight, raising the death toll to three.

Prime minister Khaleda Zia expressed “deep shock” at the blast and conveyed “sympathy to the British envoy and other injured people”, her office said.

The country’s main opposition party, the Awami League, has accused police of security lapses and planned to hold protests in Sylhet city today.

In London, British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said he was “shocked” by the attack.

In January, a bomb killed five worshippers at the shrine. Police had no suspects despite questioning more than 20 people detained after the blast.