A Dhaka court on Thursday sent three persons to 14-day remand in two cases filed over the bomb explosion at the Pallabi police station here, which left five persons, including four police personnel, injured on Wednesday morning.

The three accused are Rafiqul Islam, 40, Shahidul Islam, 24, and Mosharraf Hossain, 26.

However, a senior police officer denied any terrorist links in connection with the case. An investigating team has been constituted to probe the matter.

Five people were injured when a bomb exploded at the Pallabi police station on Wednesday at around 6 a.m., when officer-in-charge of the police station was interrogating three terrorists, a senior police officer told IANS. The police said that the explosion occurred from a weighing machine.

Walid Hossain, Deputy Commissioner (media) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police, told IANS: "Police had information that they were hatching a conspiracy to eliminate a political leader."

More bombs were neutralised subsequently by the bomb disposal squad of Counter-Terrorism and Transnational Crime Unit.

Three days ago, top police officers of different units were instructed to remain alert as the police suspected extremists' links to the explosion in the capital's Paltan area last Friday.

Manirul Islam, chief of the Counter-Terrorism and Transnational Crime Unit, Dhaka Metropolitan Police, said that the incident was an accident and had no terrorist links.

The police have seized two pistols, four bullets and a device that looked like a weighing machine, said Additional Police Commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan, Krishna Pada Roy.

During interrogation, the accused revealed that the device had a bomb inside.

The police said that the law-enforcement agency has arrested the three men with firearms and a 'weighing machine' packed with explosives, during a raid in the early hours of Wednesday.

Metropolitan Magistrate Mainul Islam passed the order after Farukuzzaman, a sub-inspector of Pallabi police station, and also the investigation officer of the case, produced them before his court with a 20-day remand request in two cases.

An officer privy to the investigation said the accused were 'directly involved' with possessing firearms and explosives and they needed to be placed on remand to find out vital clues and to learn about the whereabouts of the others involved.

The defence, however, submitted separate petitions seeking cancellation of the remand plea.

After hearing both sides, the Magistrate rejected their pleas and issued a 14-day remand order.

Islam said that it was not done by any militant, but by a group with criminal intent.
 (IANS)