Khaleda blames AL for attack on her Dhaka-bound motorcade

BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia has condemned the attack that allegedly targeted her motorcade when she was returning to Dhaka after visiting Rohingya refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar and alleged that it was carried out by ruling party men. The incident took place on Tuesday evening as unidentified miscreants hurled “petrol bombs” at two buses near the motorcade of the BNP chief while it was crossing Feni sadar upazila. The two empty buses were parked near a petrol pump on the Dhaka-Chittagong highway at Mohipal in the district. “Awami League is not a modern political party; rather, it is a den of terrorists. They always have a fetish for blood and want to see the country mired in violence, bloodshed and murders,” Khaleda said in a statement signed by BNP Senior Joint Secretary General Rizvi Ahmed. Describing Feni as a sanctuary of terrorists, the BNP chief alleged: “They [Awami League men] did not bother to refrain from swooping on my vehicles when I was going to Cox’s Bazar to render humanitarian assistance to persecuted Rohingya people. They brutally assaulted pressmen and vandalised their vehicles.” Calling the attack cowardly, she said goons now feel more encouraged than ever to commit illicit activities due to the “prevailing culture of impunity.” The former prime minister demanded that those who were involved in the attack be arrested and given an exemplary punishment. Earlier, on Saturday, Khaleda’s motorcade was attacked in the same district on her way to Cox’s Bazar. Three vehicles carrying journalists were vandalised during the attack. In a separate statement, BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir alleged that such attacks on the BNP chief were “a part of the government’s plan to destroy opposition forces.” He also said the incidents are revealing the government’s real face to the people. Meanwhile, police arrested 14 leaders and activists of the party as they brought out a procession in front of BNP’s Nayapaltan headquarters in Dhaka, protesting the attack. Mirza Fakhrul demanded immediate release of the arrestees.