Police have so far arrested 15 people in the case lodged over arson attacks on Hindu minority houses and a temple in Muradnagar of Cumilla last Sunday.
Meanwhile, primary investigation found that the arson attacks and vandalism on houses of the minority community and the temple were politically motivated where some local politicians, including a prominent ruling Awami League leader and his associates, sought to capitalise on the misplaced religious sentiment of the majority Muslims for their own political gain.
Victims of the attacks said that situation was placated by local administration, police and public representatives, but some political rivals in Purba Dhour (east) Union of Muradnagar provoked the violence on Sunday and mobilised people.
Cumilla police superintendent Syed Nurul Islam told New Age that in their primary investigations, they found that political provocation played an important role in the attack.
Meanwhile, four cases were filed by victims with Bangra Bazar police station over the arson attack where over 1,500 named and unidentified people were prosecuted, reported New Age correspondent in Cumilla.
Qamruzzaman Talukder, OC of Bangra Bazar police station, said that they had so far arrested 15 people in connection with the attacks and they were produced before the court with remand plea.
Some agitated local people vandalised and burnt at least three homes of the Hindus and a temple over rumours about an alleged Facebook post slandering Islam in the upazila on Sunday.
‘The police arrested two people with charges of hurting religious sentiments on Saturday night. Still the attack took place on the following day,’ said Qamruzzaman.
The arrested in this connection included a kindergarten headmaster from village Purbo Dhour and a person from a nearby village named Andikot, said police.
The incident took place four days after a person named Abu Yunus Md Shahid-un-Nabi was lynched and burnt at Burimari under Patgram upazila of northern Lalmonirhat over rumours of desecrating the Quran inside a mosque.
The anger sparked in Muradnagar follwing rumours that one of the arrestees had posted in favour of Charlie Hebdo caricature on Prophet Mohammed.
Police said that a Bangladeshi expatriate in France praised French president Emmanuel Macron for taking steps against ‘inhumane ideologies’. The school teacher welcomed Macron’s action in a comment on the post.
The rumours sparked anger among some locals on Saturday night and it continued in the following day.
The mob also attacked houses of Purba Dhour (east) union chairman Bano Kumar Shib and two people who were earlier arrested in the DSA on charges of defamation of religion.
Bano Kumar, who is also the union Awami League unit president, complained that the attacks were politically motivated and his rivals in the area have capitalised of religious sentiment stoked by some people for his own political gain.
Some people from Awami League’s rival faction and BNP-Jamaat were behind the attacks which was provoked by their local leaders, claimed the UP chairman.
Local people said that Bano Kumar was elected as Awami League rival candidate in UP chairman election twice in 2011 and 2016.
Awami League candidate for the post Shukh Lal Debnath lost to Bano Kumar in the elections.
The two Awami League leaders developed an animosity over who reigns over the party and bag political favours, which might have played a key role in the attack, some locals suspected.
The union Awami League unit secretary Abul Kalam Bhuiyan told New Age that there were some locals and some outsiders who had participated in the vandalism and arson attacks.
‘After analysing some video footage, we have identified a number of people who participated in the attack. There were also associates of Shukh Lal Debnath among them,’ Kalam said.
The assault targeted both Bano and his brother Titon Kumar Shib and their houses on Sunday afternoon while the two fled the area to save their own lives.
Several other houses of Hindus suffered the same fate, said senior police officers and added that the violence lasted for more than an hour and a half.
Reflecting on how the attack commenced in the area, Cumilla SP said the area was calm after arrests were made on Saturday night, but there had been announcement made by some locals on the public address system calling for a gathering on Sunday afternoon.
People from different villages participated in the demonstration while their anger was assuaged following promises of justice from the police and local leaders.
But some people resorted to trickery and they mobilised several hundred people and provoked them to carry out attacks on the houses of the minority community people, SP said.
A senior police officer said that the vandalism and arson attacks were targeted at Bano Kumar, his relatives and associates’ houses and properties and they were primary evidences suggesting that some Awami League rivals of the UP chairman were responsible for inciting the attacks.
After repeated attempts, Shukh Lal Debnath could not be reached for comments over the allegations.