Home minister sees ‘local and international plots’ behind attempt on Italian priest’s life

Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal sees ‘local and foreign conspiracies’ behind an attempt on Italian priest Piero Parolari’s life.

Staff Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 20 Nov 2015, 10:24 AM
Updated : 20 Nov 2015, 01:46 PM

He told reporters of his suspicion after visiting Parolari at the Combined Military Hospital (CMH) in Dhaka on Friday.

“Don’t you realise why these incidents are happening? [Suspected] war criminals are being tried. Local and foreign conspiracies are on to destabilise the country,” he said.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina herself is monitoring Parolari’s treatment, he said. “The priest is out of danger now. Doctors said he will recover.”

Three motorcycle-borne gunmen shot Parloari near the BRTC Bus Depot in Dinajpur on Nov 18. He was flown to Dhaka for specialised treatment that very day.

Earlier, Italian aid worker Cesare Tavella and Japanese farmer Kunio Hoshi were gunned down in Dhaka and Rangpur. Those attacks, too, were carried out by motorcycle-borne assailants.

The attempt on Parolari was carried out hours before the Supreme Court was to pronounce its verdicts on review petitions filed by war criminals BNP leader Salauddin Quader Chowdhury and Jamaat-e-Islami Secretary General Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mujahid.

Parolari, 78, is a priest at the Suihari Catholic Church in Dinajpur. A physician by profession, he works at St Vincent Hospital there.

He has been working as a missionary in Bangladesh for the past 25 years —12 of which he has spent in Dinajpur.

“The attempt on the life of a man who is serving the people and preaching a religion here for 30 years is a heinous act,” the home minister said, adding that the culprits would be hunted down and brought to book.

“They earlier carried out arson attacks, bomb attacks ... Aug 21 grenade attack [and] the assassination of Bangabandhu on Aug 15 [1975]. A running thread links them all. One particular group was behind all of them,” he said.