The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Sunday summoned the Indian High Commissioner to convey the government of Bangladesh’s serious concern to the government of India over former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
The ministry expressed its objection over India allowing fugitive Sheikh Hasina to continue making incendiary statements, urging her supporters to engage in ‘terrorist’ activities in Bangladesh with the aim of disrupting the upcoming national election.
Bangladesh reiterated her call for the expeditious extradition of Sheikh Hasina and former minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal to face the sentences handed down by the judicial authorities in Bangladesh.
Foreign Secretary Asad Alam Siam summoned High Commissioner Pranay Verma at State Guest House Padma, a senior official at the ministry told UNB.
The ministry also drew the attention of the envoy to anti-Bangladesh activities by fugitive Awami League members staying in India, including planning, organising and helping to carry out terrorist activities inside Bangladesh in order to hinder the upcoming elections.
The Indian government was called upon to expeditiously act to end the criminal actions by these fascist terrorists and extradite them to Bangladesh as soon as possible, said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Bangladesh sought India’s cooperation in preventing the escape to India of the suspects involved in the recent attempted assassination of Bangladeshi political leader Sharif Osman Hadi and, in case they manage to enter into Indian territory, to ensure their immediate apprehension and extradition to Bangladesh.
The Ministry emphasised that as a neighbour, India is expected to stand with the people of Bangladesh in upholding justice and safeguarding democratic processes.
The High Commissioner of India emphasised that India looked forward to peaceful elections in Bangladesh and expressed his country’s readiness to extend all cooperation in this regard.
Police have already identified the attackers and their associates in the attack on Sharif Osman Hadi, the spokesperson of the Inquilab Moncho and a potential independent candidate for Dhaka-8 constituency.
Intensive operations by law enforcement agencies are continuing to arrest them, said the interim government.
The motorcycle used in the attack has already been seized and the fingerprints of the suspects are being checked.
To prevent the main suspect from crossing the border, photos and other information of the suspects were provided to all immigration check posts on Friday night.
Patrols of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) and RAB have been intensified in the border area.
Although the location of the suspects has been identified several times within the country, it has not been possible to arrest them yet due to their repeated changes of location, the government said.
Meanwhile, police have already collected the travel history of the main suspect and it shows that he has traveled to several countries in the past few years as an IT businessman. The latest information is that he traveled to Singapore on July 21.
Several other suspects who may be involved in this attack have already been brought under surveillance.