Japanese man murdered
Killing aimed at tarnishing country�s image: PM
Less than a week into the sensational killing of an Italian national at the diplomatic zone in the capital, a Japanese national was gunned down in the same manner in Katu Alutari area under Kawnia upazila of Rangpur yesterday. The victim, Hoshi Kunio, 65, was severely injured when unidentified assailants opened fire on him around 10:30am. Assailants riding on a motorbike intercepted a risckshaw Kunio was riding and shot him twice, according to police.
The killers fled the scene immediately after the incident, Officer-in-Charge of Kawnia Police Station Rezaul Karim said.
Kunio had been living as a paying guest at the house of one Zakaria Haque Bala at Munshipara in the city for last few months and he used to visit his Napier grass farm in the morning by rickshaw daily.
Kunio, carrying a passport numbered 1259552, came to Bangladesh through Burimari land port of Lalmornirhat on August 20 this year, said Abdus Salam, additional superintendent of Police Bureau of Investigation.
He had earlier visited Bangladesh in 2011, the police official said, adding that five people have so far been arrested in connection.
The body was kept at Rangpur Medical College Hospital.
Earlier, on September, 28, Italian national Cesare Tavella, 50, an official of Netherlands-based non-governmental organisation ICCO Cooperation, was shot to death by miscreants on Road No-90 of the diplomatic zone in Gulshan area of the capital.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday asked the authorities concerned to identify and bring to book as soon as possible those responsible for the murder of the two foreigners.
A Biman Bangladesh Airlines flight carrying the premier and members of her entourage landed at Osmani International Airport in Sylhet around 11.40am. On her arrival she asked the law enforcers to act accordingly.
The killings of the two foreigners were carried out in a planned way to tarnish the image of the country, she said.
The overall condition in the country is good. As a result, the Bangladeshis can uphold their status day by day. But, some hideous people cannot tolerate this present situation and they want to turn the country into a Taliban state. However, they will not be allowed to succeed, said the prime minister.
Later in the day, the prime minister summoned Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal her official residence and instructed him to beef up intelligence surveillance at the Gulshan diplomatic zone and in metropolitan cities and district towns, sources at the Prime Ministers Office (PMO) and home ministry said.
The premier also asked the home minister to order the law enforcement and the intelligence agencies to take necessary steps so that assailants would not be able to assassinate any more foreigners at any part of the country, the sources added.
Talking to The Independent, Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal acknowledged that he has had a meeting with the premier and that he received some advice from her over the ongoing law and order situation.
The prime minister asked me to find out those responsible for the murders of the two foreigners as soon as possible, he said. As per the premiers instruction, surveillance has been increased at the diplomatic zone and those areas where foreigners mostly live.
The home minister also said they will provide necessary security if any foreigner feel insecure and inform this to the ministries concerned.
About the killing of the Japanese citizen, Hoshi Konio, in Rangpur yesterday, the home minister said the motive behind the killings of the two foreigners are the same.
A section of people are trying to create an anarchic situation in the country by killing of foreigners. Our law enforcement agencies are working on it and they will find out the killers as soon as possible, he said.
