‘Aug 21 attack wouldn’t have been possible without then govt’s patronage’

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Saturday said it wouldn’t have been possible to carry out the attack on August 21, 2004 had there been no direct patronage from then BNP-Jamaat government. "They (BNP-Jamaat govt) thought that I had been killed (in the grenade attack), but when they came to know that I didn’t die they allowed four criminals to flee the country," she said. She said the then BNP-Jamaat government assembled the terrorists and militants for carrying out such an attack and gave them a safe passage to flee abroad. Sheikh Hasina made the allegation while addressing a discussion marking the August 21, 2004 grenade attack, reports UNB.