At least three people sustained minor injuries Thursday when an improvised explosive device detonated outside a polling center in Gopalganj, the southern Bangladeshi district widely regarded as the political cradle of ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, amid general elections.

“Attackers threw a homemade bomb from outside the polling station, leaving two members of the Ansar (paramilitary security personnel) and one female voter lightly injured,” Gopalganj Police Superintendent Mohammad Habibullah confirmed to a Spanish news agency.

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The attack occurred at Reshma International School when the assailants hurled the explosive “from the opposite side of a canal and fled on foot,” the officer explained, adding that the incident “did not impact voting,” which continued normally after security was reinforced.

All three victims received on-site medical attention and have since returned to duty or their homes, with Habibullah noting they are “in good condition.”

Gopalganj, birthplace of the deposed longtime leader, remains a symbolic nerve center for the now-outlawed Awami League. Authorities have flooded the area with extra forces, bracing for possible retaliation from party sympathizers following Hasina’s abrupt departure into exile in August 2024.

The blast stands as the sole disruption so far during an election overseen by close to one million security personnel—a high-stakes vote and binding referendum intended to close the chapter on nearly a decade and a half of authoritarian rule.

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