Meanwhile, Chief Executive Officer of Asia Energy Bangladesh Gary Lye also blamed the organisers of the demonstration for the incident.

Mahmudur Rahman told the press following a meeting with Gary Lye at the energy ministry, "These people are using innocent locals and Asia Energy as guinea pigs to strengthen their position in national politics."

He said those who are engaged in misleading Phulbari people by making unnecessary and provocative comments, should take the responsibility for yesterday's killings.

The energy adviser said he could not understand why the national committee on protecting oil and gas resources held such a programme as the government is yet to 'initiate any negotiation with Asia Energy'.

He added that whether Asia Energy will be given the licence to develop the coalmine depends on the coal policy and the negotiation with that company.

"There is no relation of yesterday's event with that," he noted. He said foreign investors might get a negative signal due to this occurrence.

The adviser pointed out he did not think that the opposition 14-party alliance is involved in the incident. "But it is very sad that this alliance is now supporting the committee's programme declared yesterday," he added.

Talking to the press, Gary Lye expressed deep sympathies to the families of the victims of Phulbari coalmine site and also thanked the authorities for trying to keep the situation under control.

Lye told the press, "I can't imagine a situation getting any worse for the local community and for the authorities that had to manage the situation."

"I also say who is responsible for this is not for us to say. The government has to look into why this happened, exactly what happened. It's up to the government, but it would appear to us that the unforgivable events and the needless loss of life and suffering that took place in Phulbari are entirely the fault of the organisers," the Asia Energy chief stated.

"We thank the authorities for protecting our personnel. Asia Energy has operated in peace and harmony with the communities of Phulbari and the surrounding upazilas over several years, and we have always felt welcomed," he added.

He expressed his concerns over the security of 40 Asia Energy's people and their families. "The situation is also intimidating them and it's not fair, not fair to anybody," he said.

"Think of the people who lost their young kids ... they are not going to be around to enjoy the benefits of this wonderful project. And that is a real tragedy," Lye added.

"We are doing two other things at the project site now; we are giving a water supply system to a village as a trial so that everyone can see a tap with running water. We wanted to see how that works. We have given those contracts to local contractors. We wanted to see how they do their jobs because we are going to be doing lots of those during the life of the project," he pointed out.

Earlier, Australian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Douglas Foskett met the energy adviser expressing his concerns over the Phulbari incident saying it will send 'wrong signals to foreign investors'.

Mahmudur told the press the high commissioner also expressed concerns about the well-being of the establishment and officials of Phulbari adding that a number of Australian investors were keen on investing in Bangladesh but the incident might discourage them.