Interpol’s red corner notice against Tarique Rahman a propaganda strategy: BNP

An Interpol red-corner notice against BNP Senior Vice Chairman Tarique Rahman is a government propaganda strategy, the party has claimed.

BNP chief Khaleda Zia’s eldest son Tarique is the prime accused in the Aug 21, 2004 grenade attack on an Awami League rally in Dhaka.

BNP spokesperson Asaduzzaman Ripon told the press on Wednesday that Tarique was put on the list at the request of the Bangladesh government.

“The Interpol does not issue a red alert on its own. Their website publishes information provided by the countries concerned,” he claimed.

The Interpol’s 'most wanted' list has carried Tarique's picture with details, saying Bangladesh is seeking him to stand trial in the 2004 case.

“We condemn such strategies for propaganda. We want to make it clear that the BNP cannot be kept under pressure by issuing Interpol red notice alerts against Tarique Rahman,” the BNP leader told the briefing.

Ripon, the BNP’s international affairs secretary, claimed that there were ‘some errors’ in the Interpol notice.

“It names Tarique Rahman as Tarique Zia. He does not use that name. He speaks Bengali, while the Interpol website says he also speaks Urdu. These are confusing pieces of information.”

The Aug 21 case was filed over the killing of 24 people in a grenade attack on an Awami League rally on Bangabandhu Avenue during the tenure of the BNP-Jamaat-e-Islami coalition.

Tarique, then a powerful figure in the coalition government, has been named as a prime accused for allegedly masterminding the conspiracy leading to the attack.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who addressed that rally, barely survived but her hearing was affected.

Police say investigations revealed that the objective of the attack was to assassinate Sheikh Hasina, then the Leader of the Opposition.