Dhaka: A mob damaged 66 houses and set on fire at least 20 homes of Hindus in Bangladesh over an alleged blasphemous social media post. This development came amidst protests by the minority community against temple vandalism incidents during the Durga Puja celebrations last week, authorities said Monday.
The arson attack by the mob of over a hundred people happened late Sunday on a village in Rangpur district’s Pirganj upazila, about 255 kms from the Bangladesh capital, ‘bdnews24.Com’ reported.
The police rushed to a fishermen neighbourhood as tension mounted over a rumour that a young Hindu man of the village had ‘dishonoured religion’ in a Facebook post, Assistant Police Superintendent Mohammad Kamruzzaman told reporters.
“The incident took place after 10.00pm Sunday but fire fighters doused the blaze within a short period. The situation is now under full control,” Kamruzzaman said. No casualties were reported.
A total of 52 suspects have been arrested while a manhunt was launched for more suspects under a ‘combing operation’ in collaboration with other security forces, the police official added.
As the police stood guard around the man’s home, the attackers set fire to other homes nearby, the report said.
The Fire Service Control Room said that their report from the scene indicates that 29 residential houses, two kitchens, two barns and 20 haystacks belonging to 15 different owners were torched in Pirganj’s Majhipara. It added that an ‘unruly crowd’ has been identified as the cause of fire.
The fire service received a report of the fire at 8.45pm and finally put it out by 4.10am, the report said.
The arson incident occurred amid rising communal tension over an alleged blasphemy incident at a Durga Puja venue in Cumilla which led to attacks on Hindu temples and clashes between vandals and the police in Cumilla, Chandpur, Chattogram, Cox’s Bazar, Bandarban, Moulvibazar, Gazipur, Chapainawabganj, Feni and other districts. Dozens of people have been arrested over the attacks and the spread of communal hatred on social media, the report said.
Four assumed Muslim bigots were killed in Haziganj, the worst scene of the violence, Wednesday and Thursday, while the body of a Hindu devotee was found at a pond in nearby Begumbanj of Noakhali district.
Muslim and Hindu protestors took to the streets at different areas of Bangladesh, including the capital Dhaka in the past several days.
The Bangladesh Hindu-Buddhist-Christial Unity Council said at least 70 puja pavilions and temples were attacked in the previous three days of violence. The council alleges that at least four Hindu devotees have died in the attacks in Chandpur and Noakhali.
Meanwhile, the elite anti-crime force Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) has arrested two more men in connection with the looting and vandalism of temples and shops belonging to the Hindu minority community in Feni, about 155 kms from here.
“They were arrested for their involvement in communal violence and inciting people on social media. They were handed over to the local police station,” said Imran Khan, assistant director of the paramilitary force’s Legal and Media Wing.
The communal tensions came as the minority Hindus, who constitute nine per cent of Bangladesh’s 160 million population celebrated their largest religious festival Durga Puja last week.