Sheikh Hasina accuses BNP-Jamaat alliance of murdering two foreigners

Dhaka : Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has blamed the opposition Bangladesh National Party (BNP)- Jamaat-e-Islami alliance for the murder of two foreigners within a week, saying that the murders were part of a conspiracy to ‘tarnish the image’ of her government. Hasina said that the BNP-led alliance was attempting to overshadow the government’s achievements through these heinous murders. She vowed to take action and said that the murders as ‘clearly planned and politically motivated’. Her comments came during a media interaction at the Ganabhaban, her official residence, here on Sunday. Earlier, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) had claimed responsibility for the murders. Her comments came as concerned authorities in Bangladesh stepped up the security for foreign diplomats and deployed heavily-armed policemen and officers to guard the diplomatic zone in national capital Dhaka. Meanwhile, the United States and the European Union have both called on the Bangladesh Government to bring the perpetrators of the crimes to justice.