Dhaka, Nov. 3 -- Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has questioned the rise in food prices, pointing out that domestic productions have increased.

She suspects there is a conspiracy to drive prices and then blame the government for the hikes.

Speaking at a Jail Killing Day discussion organised by the Awami League in Dhaka on Friday, the premier ordered identification of and action against "businesses that manipulate the prices and then speak against the government for the price rises".

The discussion was organised to commemorate four national leaders - Syed Nazrul Islam, Tajuddin Ahmad, AHM Qamaruzzaman and M Mansur Ali - who were killed in Dhaka jail on Nov 3, 1975 after the assassination of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

But Hasina's ...