Ten Hurt In Bangladesh Grenade Blast

`At least 10 policemen and reporters have been injured,` one witness told Reuters by telephone.

A member of a gang of militants being paraded with captured weapons by police at a news conference on Friday managed to grab and detonate a grenade, injuring at least 10 people.

Police and witnesses said one of four militants put on parade by police grabbed a grenade on display at Gazipur, 30 km (20 miles) north of the capital.

"At least 10 policemen and reporters have been injured," one witness told Reuters by telephone.

Bangladesh police routinely hold news conferences where they display captured criminals and evidence.

The four militants, including three women, had earlier confessed to being members of Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh, an outlawed Islamist group accused of carrying out a series of bomb attacks across the country since 2005.

Police also seized live grenades, bombs, and explosives, which had been put on display at the news conference.

"But suddenly the male member of the group jumped on the table where the devices were kept, grabbed one and set it off," one police officer said.

During interrogation the group told police they were preparing to launch attacks during a language anniversary celebration on Saturday.

Police had earlier said they had taken measures to ensure security during the event.

"We have set up a three-layer fool-proof security arrangement for the anniversary," police commissioner Mohammad Nayeem told reporters late on Thursday.

In late 2005, the JMB and allied groups, trying to turn Muslim Bangladesh into a sharia-based Islamic state, killed more than 30 people and injured over 150 in a spate of bombings across the country.

Their campaign suffered a blow after six JMB top commanders were hanged in March 2007, but police and intelligence officials warned their followers were regrouping and might launch fresh attacks.