India uncovers suspected plot to assassinate Bangladeshi PM

Thursday, 30 October 2014 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Reuters: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has uncovered a suspected plot by banned Bangladeshi militant group Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen to assassinate the country’s Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and carry out a coup, three senior Indian security officials told Reuters on Tuesday. India will hand over a dossier to Bangladesh with details of the plan by members of the Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen, which has carried out scores of attacks in India’s eastern neighbour, the government and police officials said.

Bangladesh's Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina addresses the 69th United Nations General Assembly at the UN headquarters in New York Bangladesh did not comment directly on the assertions that Hasina had been the target of a plot, but said it had tightened security on the border with India. Mainly-Muslim Bangladesh has suffered three major army coups and two dozen smaller rebellions since gaining independence from Pakistan in 1971 in a war that killed and displaced millions. The alleged conspiracy was discovered after two members of the group were killed in an explosion while building homemade bombs at a house in West Bengal earlier this month. Indian police say the militants were Bangladeshis and were using India as a safe haven to plan the attacks. “The strategy was to hit the political leaders of the country and demolish the democratic infrastructure of Bangladesh,” said a senior Indian Home (interior) Ministry official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. “This was all being planned on Indian soil and we could have been blamed if there was an attack.” Indian National Security Adviser Ajit Doval on Monday visited the house where the blasts took place and met West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to discuss the situation. The revelations come against a backdrop of political friction earlier this year between nationalist Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Banerjee.