October 17, 2002	Thursday	Sha'aban 10, 1423

DHAKA, Oct 16: A ruling party legislator, along with some 20 people, had narrowly escape from a grenade attack on his residence in Jhinedah, a south-western district town, some 250kms from the capital city yesterday.

Police and witnesses said unidentified criminals tossed in a powerful grenade through a window of his sitting room, when Mashiur Rahman, a ruling Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) lawmaker was holding a meeting with the teachers of a local school inside at about 8:50 pm. Some other visitors were also present at the MP’s sitting room at that time. “The grenade dropped near the feet of the lawmaker, but didn’t explode,” said an eyewitness told police, who rushed to the spot on information. The law enforcers eventually defused the grenade.

In an instant protest, several hundred people and students staged a protest rally near the post office in the town.