Narail communal violence: 7-day remand sought for 5 arrested

Police sought seven days remand for five persons arrested in the case over recent communal violence in Digholia village of Narail's Lohagara upazila over a Facebook post allegedly belittling Islam.

The arrestees were placed before a court this afternoon with a 7-day bail plea after they were arrested from different areas of the upazila, investigation officer Sub-Inspector Mizanur Rahman confirmed.

They are Md Sayed Sheikh, Md Rasel Mridha, Kabir Gazi, Rezaul Sheikh and Md Masum Billah.

"These people were involved in inciting public outrage and initiating an attack on Hindus living in the area," he added.

Earlier, police arrested these five people following two cases that have been lodged in this regard.

Sub-Inspector (SI) Makruf Rahman of Lohagra police station lodged one case accusing 200-250 unidentified people on Sunday night.

On 16 July, Salah Uddin Kochi of Digholia village filed a defamation case against a Hindu college student Akash Saha for hurting religious sentiments, following which he was arrested from Khulna on Saturday night.

Reportedly, Akash Saha posted a derogatory comment about Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) on Facebook on 14 July, triggering anger among Muslims, who later carried out the attack on Friday (15 July) evening.

The attackers vandalised more than 10 houses and shops, including one owned by the student's father Ashok Saha. At the same time, some houses were set on fire.

Apart from pelting bricks and stones, the protesters vandalised idols, chairs and sound boxes of the Sahapara temple.

Frightened by this, most of the Hindu family members took shelter in the nearby villages.

However, the upazila administration is claiming that the situation in the village is now under control.

Lohagara Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Md Azgar Ali said, "Members of several units of the law enforcement are now deployed in the village."