Bangladesh cops nab 53 for torching Hindu houses in Thakurbari village

NewsBharati    13-Nov-2017
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Dhaka, Nov 13: The Bangladesh police have arrested at least 53 people for their alleged involvement in arson and attack on over 30 Hindu houses in Thakurbari village in Rongpur district on Friday. The savagery of the attackers has left dozens of Hindu families homeless and penniless, reported Dhaka Tribune and PTI.

The situation in Thakurbari Village is still tense, as a man was killed when police opened fire to ward off the angry mob that turned violent and launched the arson attack on Hindu homes. Many victims are yet to return to their homes over concerns of further attacks.

The police alleged that the country's largest Islamist party Jamaat-e-Islami, a key ally of the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) led by former prime minister Khaleda Zia, carried out the attack on Hindus to create unrest ahead of the next parliamentary elections, bdnews24.com reported.

“Jamaat tried to fuel unrest as elections are nearing,” Rangpur Superintendent of Police Mizanur Rahman told reporters after inspecting the scene on Saturday. He said the police have identified four persons who instigated the attacks.

The police have filed two cases over the incident at the Kotwali and Gangachara police stations and so far arrested 53 suspects; Rongpur's Additional Superintendent of Police Zakir Hossain was quoted as saying by Dhaka Tribune.

One person was killed when the police opened fire to disperse the crowd that torched the houses of Hindus in Rongpur district's Thakurpara village, about 300 km from Dhaka, on Friday, the report said.

At least five persons were injured when the police fired rubber bullets and lobbed tear gas shells to bring the situation under control, it said.

The protesters claimed that they were infuriated by a defamatory status published from the Facebook account of a person who hails from the Thakurbari village a few days ago, the report said.

Before the police intervened, the perpetrators had torched at least 30 Hindu houses before looting and vandalising them, the report said.

A crowd of 20,000 people had reportedly gathered from six to seven neighbouring villages before the attack was launched by a group of people, it said.

There were traffic snarls after the mob blocked the Rangpur-Dinajpur highway to protest against the police action.