RANGPUR CLASH, ARSON 2,000 sued in two cases

Police on Saturday filed two cases against around 2,000 people, including 73 named, for Friday’s arson and vandalism of houses and temples of Hindus in village Thakurpara under Rangpur Sadar. 
In the cases, filed with Kotwali and Gangachara police stations, 48 people, mostly local leaders and activists of Jamaat, were arrested for their suspected involvement in the attacks.
The arrested include Sirajul Haq, a local Jammat leader, who allegedly led the attacks, police said.
Kotwali Police Station inspector (investigation) Abdul Aziz and Gangachara Police Station officer-in-chartge Zinnat Ali confirmed the news of the cases and arrests.  
Sub-inspector Rezaul Alam Sarkar lodged the case with Gangachara Police Station while SI Rafiqul Islam lodged the other case with the Kotwali police, they said.
The case with the Gangachara police named 73 of the accused, said the Gangachara OC.
Thakurpara is located in the bordering area of Sadar and Gangachara upazilas.   
Protesting at the attacks, different organisations in Dhaka held demonstrations and issued statements condemning the attacks. 
The affected Hindus at the village on Saturday said they had been passing days in fear of further attacks. 
Uneasy calm was prevailing in the area, they said.
A 27-year-old man was killed and several others were injured on Friday after police opened fire on a mob, which set fire to houses of Hindus in Thakurpara on the allegation of defaming Islam and its prophet on a facebook post by a villager Titu Ray who now resides in Narayanganj.
The angry mob torched 10 houses, vandalised seven others, a warehouse and two Shib temples in the village.
Titu’s mother Jiton Bala, whose house was torched, said her son had been living near his workplace in Narayanganj for the past six years. 
‘He did not pass primary school,’ she said, asking how it could be possible for her ignorant son to post a derogatory comment on Islam and its prophet on facebook.
Rangpur Puja Udjapon Committee general secretary Ajoy Chandra Bamon blamed religious fanatics for opening fake facebook account using Titu’s name and alleged that anyone of the attackers might have made the derogatory post using the fake Id. 
He called for neutral investigation to find out the real culprits and demanded compensation for the victim families.  
Sudhir Chandra, whose house was burnt, said local Jamaat leader Sirajul Haq of neighbouring village Harialkuti organised the human chain and led the attack. 
Rangpur district superintendent of police Mizanur Rahman said most of the arrested were leaders and activists Jamaat and its student wing Islami Chhatra Shibir.
He said that they had sent a police team to Narayanganj to arrest Titu to reveal facts.
Meanwhile, the district administration formed a three-member probe committee, led by additional district magistrate Abu Rafa Mohammad Arif, to investigate the incident. 
The committee, which started work on Saturday, was asked to submit its report in seven working days, said deputy commissioner Mohammad Wahiduzzaman.
Officer-in-charge of Kotwali Police Station Babul Miah said the mastermind of the attack, Sirajul Haq, was the imam of a mosque at Saleyasha Bazaar near Thakurpara and also a local Jamaat leader. 
He said Sirajul confessed to police that he had organised the rally and led the attack. 
A temporary police camp was set up at Thakurpara to fend off any further untoward incident, the OC said. 
Meanwhile, Communist Party of Bangladesh, Bangladesher Samajtantrik Dal and Democratic Left Alliance in a protest rally in front of National Press Club in the capital condemned the attack and urged the country people to resist the opportunist and fundamentalist groups.
Workers Party of Bangladesh and Ain o Salish Kendra also condemned the attack.

News Courtesy: www. newagebd.net