Dhaka: Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader on Wednesday alleged that BNP hatched a conspiracy to kill Sajeeb Wazed Joy, ICT adviser to the prime minister, out of its frustration as it remained out of power for a long time.

The minister said while talking to reporters at the Secretariat said: ‘Awami League doesn’t believe in violence. This party had been out of power for long 21 years but never resorted to violence.’

Quader, also Awami League’s presidium member, said the plot to murder Joy, the only son of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, is the latest blueprint to wipe out Bangabandhu’s future clan, and this was revealed as police rummaged through Shafik Rehman’s residence for related documents earlier in his presence.

He also said they are not treating Shafik Rehman as guilty until the court convicts him.

Asked whether there is any political motive behind his arrest as alleged by many, Quader trashed it saying that his arrest was based on statements of several people convicted at a US federal court, where they mentioned his involvement, according to the FBI, reported UNB.

He further said it is a sensitive issue, as Joy’s detractors are the ones responsible behind plotting to kill the architect behind the country’s ICT revolution.

Officials from the police are expected to meet FBI officials in the USA soon for more investigation into the matter.

The Detective Branch (DB) of police arrested Shafik Rehman, a well-known magazine editor, for sedition, on 16 April.

Rehman was a long-time editor of Jai Jai Din, a mass-circulation Bengali daily. He now edits a popular Bengali monthly magazine called Mouchake Dhil.

He previously served as a speechwriter for opposition leader Khaleda Zia, a two-time former prime minister who is involved in a deeply bitter ongoing feud with the current premier.

In recent months, Rehman became the convenor of the international affairs committee of Zia’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and headed a pro-opposition think-tank named G-9.