Bangladesh police arrest 11 suspects in connection with bomb attack

Police have arrested 11 people in connection with a bomb attack by suspected Islamic militants that killed two judges in southern Bangladesh, an investigator said Tuesday. A powerful homemade bomb was thrown Monday at a minibus in Jhalakathi town, killing the judges and wounding two others, including the suspected attacker, police said. The area is 120 kilometers (75 miles) south of the capital, Dhaka.

During raids overnight and Tuesday, police detained 11 suspects for questioning, said local police official Sohrab Hossain. The suspects include a head teacher of an Islamic school in the town, Hossain said.

He said they were also looking for two close aides of the suspected attacker, Hasan Al Mamun, who is believed to be a member of outlawed Islamic group Jumatul Mujahideen Bangladesh.

Mamun, 28, who used to live in a rented house in the town with two other friends, was being treated under tight security at a hospital in Dhaka, police said. He was known to neighbors as a honey seller, Hossain said.

Mamun, who suffered head injuries in Monday's attack, would be questioned after his condition improved, police said.

The banned group wants to establish harsh Islamic laws in Bangladesh, a Muslim-majority nation of 140 million people, ruled by a secular constitution.

The group has been blamed for a spate of bombings targeting court and government offices in August and October that left four people dead and dozens injured across the South Asian nation.

Meanwhile, lawyers in Jhalakathi demonstrated Tuesday and continued boycotting court to protest against the attack. In Dhaka, security was tightened at court buildings across the capital, reports the AP. I.L.