DHAKA, Aug 18: Police have arrested about 90 people in their hunt for criminals who carried out a countrywide wave of almost-simultaneous bomb explosions across Bangladesh on Wednesday.

The detainees included members of two outlawed religious organizations — Jamayetul Mujahideen and Jagrata Muslim Janata.

Over 350 small home-made bombs went off in all but one of the 64 districts of the country on Wednesday, killing two people and injuring over 150.

The Awami League (AL) led the opposition’s demonstrations all over Bangladesh on Thursday. Sheikh Hasina, the AL chief, called for an international investigation into the blasts because ‘the intelligence agencies and the police have completely failed to perform their duties’.

She alleged that the ‘bomb attacks were masterminded by the government and perpetrated under the supervision of Jamaat-i-Islami’.

“No one can carry out a series of blasts in 63 districts almost simultaneously without the government’s involvement.”

She also criticized the government for its ‘lack of initiative to take to task international militants and terrorists active in Bangladesh’.

Members of a ruling party-backed human rights group said at a press conference that ‘international conspirators’ were probably involved in the string of bomb blasts.

The leaders of the Council for National Agenda accused India of having engineered the bombings to ‘once again derail the upcoming Saarc summit in Dhaka on grounds of security’.

The Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry appealed to the ruling Bangladesh Nationalist Party and the Awami League to sit together immediately to fight terrorism.

Agencies add: A senior police official in Satkhira district said two people had been detained there over five attacks and one had confessed to membership of a banned religious group and to carrying out a bombing.

“We are still questioning both men to get an idea about this organization,” the official said.

No group has formally claimed responsibility for the attacks.

Security problems hurt Bangladesh earlier in the year when a February summit of South Asian nations in Dhaka was postponed. India had pulled out following a grenade attack on an Awami League rally that killed five people.

“Whoever did this made a big statement. It shows how fragile the security situation is here,” security expert Sakhawat Hossain, a former army brigadier, said.

“In terms of security, it shows that we are now the weakest country in South Asia, even weaker than Nepal,” he said.

PM CUTS SHORT CHINA VISIT: Prime Minister Khaleda Zia described the blasts as the work of ‘cowardly’ terrorists designed to cause panic.

She will cut short a visit to China and return to Dhaka on Friday evening instead of Sunday as scheduled.

In the capital, hundreds of people formed human chains on Thursday and took to the streets in protest against the attacks.

Security was tightened at all key installations, including the diplomatic area.

The Islamist-allied coalition government describes Bangladesh as a moderate Muslim nation and has repeatedly rejected any suggestion that there could be a problem with religious extremists.

INDIAN REACTION: India, which in the past has expressed concern over a rise in extremism in Bangladesh, urged the authorities to catch those responsible.

“We have conveyed our serious concern and strong condemnation over the numerous and widespread explosions to the high commissioner of Bangladesh in New Delhi,” the foreign ministry said on Thursday.

“We urged the government of Bangladesh to identify the perpetrators of these terrorist acts and offered any kind of assistance,” it added.

US State Department spokesman Sean McCormack condemned the bombings as ‘terrorism’.

United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan called for ‘calm and restraint in the face of these brazen and cowardly acts’.