Murder of foreigners cannot destabilise Bangladesh: PM

The recent murders of two foreigners here were a 'planned effort' to destabilise Bangladesh, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said on Wednesday.

Hasina said whenever the global community lauds Bangladesh's achievement, incidents like these are coordinated to 'tarnish the country's image', bdnews reported.

On September 28, Italian aid worker Cesare Tavella was shot dead by assailants in Dhaka.

Four days later, Japanese citizen Kunio Hoshi was gunned down in Rangpur.

Both were shot thrice by masked assailants riding motorcycles.

"I can assure you that such incidents cannot create instability in Bangladesh or tarnish our image globally," Hasina said.

The prime minister was addressing a function after inaugurating the newly-built academic building (Sheikh Hasina Complex) of the Defence Services Command and Staff College at Mirpur Cantonment in Dhaka.

Police have not yet arrested anyone for the Italian's murder but in Rangpur two persons have been arrested, including a local leader, for involvement in killing of the Japanese national.

"The Japenese man, who converted to Islam, was brutally killed. We will bring the perpetrators to justice," said the prime minister.