Inu points finger at BNP-Jamaat for murder of foreigners

Information Minister Hasanul Haq Inu says he suspects the BNP and its ally Jamaat-e-Islami might have a hand behind the killing of two foreigners in Bangladesh.

Staff Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 8 Oct 2015, 09:30 AM
Updated : 8 Oct 2015, 09:59 AM

“No political party, other than the BNP and Jamaat plot such conspiracies,” he said on Thursday in Dhaka.

Inu accused the alliance of “giving rise” to terrorism in the past.

He recalled how militants like Bangla Bhai and Shaikh Abdur Rahman were on the rampage when BNP chief Khaleda Zia headed the government and Jamaat chief Motiur Rahman Nizami was a minister. 

At the time, the BNP claimed Bangla Bhai and Rahman were ‘creations' of the media. 

“They tried to shield all the militant activities with lies,” the minister said. “We see them doing that now.”

Italian Cesare Tavella was gunned down in Dhaka’s diplomatic zone on Sept 28 and Japanese Kunio Hoshi was killed in similar fashion in Rangpur on Oct 3.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina had hinted at a possible link of the BNP-Jamaat alliance with the killings.

In a Facebook post, her son and ICT affairs Adviser Sajeeb Ahmed Wazed Joy claimed to have “reliable information” on BNP-Jamaat’s involvement in the incidents.

But the BNP has vehemently rejected the allegations.

Inu claimed almost all the 600 men caught red-handed during acts of arson were activists of the two parties.

“We’re investigating whether this attack (the killing of Tavella and Kunio) was an isolated incident or a result of conspiracy by the BNP,” he said.

Foreign diplomats on Tuesday requested the government to provide security for their nationals living in Bangladesh.

“I think Khaleda and her allies are trying to shield militants the same way they did when they were in power,” Inu alleged.

“But according to our information, the killers are either members of [banned militant group] JMB or activists of the BNP and the Jamaat,” the information minister added.