2 detained in connection with Japanese killing in Bangladesh

Two people, including an opposition member, were placed on a 10-day remand Tuesday in connection with the Japanese national Hosie Kunio killing in Bangladesh.

Metropolitan Magistrate Abu Taleb in Rangpur, 304 km northwest of capital Dhaka, rejected bail petitions of former prime minister Khaleda Zia's Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) activist Rashed- un-Nabi Khan Biplob and Humayun Kabir Hira in the killing case.

According to the police, Biplob, member of a BNP committee, and Hira, a friend of Kunio, own a fishery near the grass field that Kunio owned in Rangpur.

Rezaul Karim, officer of the Rangpur Police Station, informed the court that while seeking their remand that law enforcers have found their involvement in the murder of Kunio who was gunned down on October 3, five days after the killing of an Italian citizen in Dhaka's diplomatic zone.

A BNP spokesman was not immediately available for comment. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina told journalists on Sunday that the murders were planned and similar in style.

Hasina ruled out any possibility of Islamic States activities in Bangladesh and its involvement in the murder.

She rather claimed that the "(opposition parties) BNP-Jamaat have definitely abetted these murders in a bid to overshadow Bangladesh's achievements."

Later, BNP spokesman Asaduzzaman Khan Ripon denied the allegation of his party or his alliance's involvement in the murders.

He termed Hasina's comments as "undesirable and unwarranted."

SITE, the terror threat monitoring portal, on its website reported that the Islamic State (IS) claimed responsibility for Kunio's murder.

Earlier, IS claimed the killing of an Italian national, identified as Tavela Ceaser, in Dhaka.

The authenticity of the statements has not been confirmed by the Bangladesh police.