Dhaka, October 25
A key suspect and his accomplice accused of fanning communal hatred on social media and instigating the recent violence against the minority Hindu community in Bangladesh have confessed to their crime in a pre-trial hearing, a court official has said.
13 more arrested
Dhaka: The police have arrested 13 more suspects, including a local cleric, for the recent spate of violence against the minority Hindu community during Durga Puja celebrations in Bangladesh, according to media reports on Monday. PTI
Shaikat Mandal confessed before a magistrate on Sunday that it was his Facebook post that led to the violence in Rangpur, Pirganj sub-district on October 17 during Durga Puja festivities in the country.
Mandal’s accomplice Rabiul Islam is a 36-year-old cleric, who has been accused
of arson and loot.
“Shaikat Mandal and Rabiul Isam have admitted to their role before a senior judicial magistrate in Rangpur,” the court official told newsmen.
They were arrested from Gazipur on Friday in a police raid and booked under the Digital Security Act.
Mandal is a philosophy department student of Rangpur’s Carmichael College, and was expelled from the ruling Awami League’s student wing Chhatra League after his arrest.
He had uploaded objectionable content on Facebook to boost his follower count, a Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) official was quoted as saying in a bdnews24.com report.
Islam helped Mandal instigate Muslims in the village through announcements on the loudspeaker on Friday, the official added.
Police officials claimed that the violence was instigated after a rumour began doing the rounds in Pirganj that a Hindu man had posted religiously offensive content on Facebook, the report said.
The Durga Puja celebrations, considered to be the biggest festival of the minority Hindu community in Bangladesh, concluded without the traditional Bijoya Dashami procession. — PTI
(The article is generated from The Tribune via feeds, The Chenab Times staff didn’t wrote this news.)
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