BNP Vice Chairman Tarique Rahman is the main mastermind of Aug 21 grenade attack, said Awami League General Secretary and Roads Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader.

“Highest punishment has to be ensured for Tarique Rahman, the mastermind of the incident,” said the minister on Wednesday (Aug 21), after paying respect at the mausoleum built in memory of those killed in the attack.

“We will certainly go to the High Court since Mufti Hannan’s statement mentioned that the grenade attack was carried out at the order of Tarique Rahman,” said the senior AL leader.

Quader blamed BNP for the implacable antipathy between AL and BNP.

The incidents of 15 August, 1975 and 21 August, 2004 are linked; BNP-Jamaat used terrorists to attack an AL rally, leaving scores of people dead, commented Quader.

“Any possibility of a competitive but cordial relation between the ruling party and the opposition ended with the grenade attack on 21 August,” he added.