Dhaka: Bangladesh's two former ministers, who
aided banned extremist group HuJI in its botched attempt to
kill Premier Sheikh Hasina in 2004, also helped the outfit
procure arms for use against India, a court was told here.
Lutfozzaman Babar and Abdus Salam Pintu, ministers in the
former Khaleda Zia-led BNP government had assisted Huji in its
bid to kill Hasina in 2004, Abdul Kahar Akand, investigation
officer in the grenade attack cases told a Dhaka court.
Akand said they had trained many youths, mainly madrasa
students, how to operate firearms and bombs.
"Most of their recruits came from Pakistan-administered
Kashmir and Bangladesh... They had also mobilised funds, arms
and ammunition for insurgents in Kashmir of India," he was
quoted as saying by the Daily Star today.
The court granted Akand's appeal seeking fresh remand for
Huji founder Sheikh Abdus Salam.
Akand said HuJI had planned to eliminate Hasina and other
Awami League leaders as their government in its 1996-2001
tenure was an "obstacle" in its campaign of "recruiting and
training youths as its operatives, and procurement of firearms
for fellow militants fighting in India and Afghanistan".
When AL lost power in 2001, HuJI got support from Babar
and Pintu through Pintu's brother and Huji leader Moulana
Tajuddin, Akand said in his remand prayer.
Akand said Babar and Pintu, then state minister for home
and deputy minister for education, had helped Tajuddin flee
Bangladesh for Pakistan. Tajuddin had supplied the grenades
used in the 2004 blasts that killed 23 AL leaders and workers.
PTI
First Published: Wednesday, December 02, 2009, 17:59