The police in Bangladesh have identified those who incited violence, which led to attacks on Durga puja pandal in Comilla and elsewhere. Comilla’s Superintendent of Police Farooq Ahmed, told the Dhaka Tribune that the man’s name was Iqbal Hossain from Sujanagar area of the city.
Ahmed said that the 35-year-old placed the Quran at one of Durga’s meetings on October 13, which caused violence and resulted in three deaths. The Dhaka Tribune stated in its report that the police identified Hossain after analyzing the footage of the CCTV cameras installed in the Durga Puja venue.
He has not been arrested. In the video, Hossain can be seen taking the Quran from the local mosque and walking into the venue of the Durga Puja pandal. Later, someone saw him walking away with Lord Hanuman’s club. Ahmed said that the police will hold a briefing on Thursday where more details about Hussein will be shared.
Since last Wednesday, after a post appeared on social media that the Quran was preserved in the Durga Puja pandal, Bangladesh’s attacks on Hindu temples have intensified. Later on Sunday, a group of mobs destroyed 66 houses and set fire to at least 20 Hindus houses. The police said that so far, more than 450 people have been arrested for attacking temples across the country. Among them, 41 were arrested in connection with the Comilla incident and 4 of them were associates of Hossain.
On Tuesday, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina instructed her Interior Minister to take immediate action against those who use religion to incite violence because she asked people not to believe anything on social media without fact-checking. Among the 169 million population of Bangladesh, where Muslims are the majority, Hindus account for about 10%.
News Source : Hindustan Times
