India rejects ‘false and baseless’ claim of fueling Bangladesh unrest

New Delhi: India on Friday trashed as “false and baseless” a senior Bangladeshi official’s claim of its involvement in violent clashes in Bangladesh.

Following the clashes at Khagrachhari district in Chittagong Hill Tracts in southwestern Bangladesh last week, de-facto home minister Jahangir Alam Chowdhury alleged that the unrest was being fuelled by India.

External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said India categorically rejects these “false and baseless allegations”.

“The interim government, which is unable to maintain law and order in Bangladesh, has routinely sought to shift the blame elsewhere,” he said.

“It would do well to introspect and conduct serious investigations into the action of local extremists committing violence, arson and land grab against the minority communities in the Chittagong Hill Tracts,” he added.

Jaiswal was responding to a question on Chowdhury’s remarks during a weekly media briefing.

There has been a sharp downturn in India-Bangladesh relations after deposed prime minister Hasina fled Dhaka and took shelter in India in August last year in the face of a massive anti-government protest.

The violence in Khagrachhari district erupted after the alleged rape of a girl last week.

Three tribal men were reportedly shot dead and dozens were injured in clashes last Sunday.