BNP cadres tried to assassinate me: Former Prez

AQM Badruddoza Chowdhury has alleged that ruling Bangladesh Nationalist Party cadres were behind the fire in his house.

Calling it a plot to assassinate him and his family, former president AQM Badruddoza Chowdhury has alleged that ruling Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) cadres were behind the fire in his house.

HT Image

The fire at his residence Sunday left cash and valuables in three rooms burnt, but Chowdhury and his family, including his lawmaker son Mahi B Chowdhury, narrowly escaped the blaze, newspaper reports said.

The former president had to be rescued by police but was unhurt. He said it was "a plot to assassinate me and my whole family".

A founder of the BNP and its secretary general for a long time, Badruddoza Chowdhury is now a political dissenter and leads Bikalpa Dhara Bangladesh.

The incident has sent a shock wave in political circles. Among those who visited the burnt home and demanded a probe was former law minister Kamal Hossain.

Elected the country's president in 2001 after the BNP won the landslide poll victory, Chowdhury later fell out with Prime Minister Khaleda Zia.

Chowdhury suspects that the ruling party men "who have been carrying out repeated attacks on Bikalpa Dhara since its launch" are behind the attack.

The former president demanded a judicial probe into the incident by a sitting high court judge.

This is the second attempt on him, reports said. On March 11, 2004, he was prevented from holding a political rally by a stone-throwing mob.