Bounty declared on arsonists [ Tritiyo Matra News ]

Bounty declared on arsonists

Local November 15, 2016

The police on Monday declared Tk 1 lakh reward for assistance in capturing people involved in arson attacks on houses of the Hindus at Nasirnagar in Brahmanbaria.
Superintendent of police of the district Mizanur Rahman said that they declared Tk 1 lakh bounty for those who would provide police with information leading to the capture of the culprits.
The bounty is being announced through loud speakers across Nasirnagar, he added
Meanwhile, police headquarters probe committee submitted its reports on the day.
It found negligence of upazila nirbahi officer and police officer-in-charge, who were withdrawn later, in thwarting the attacks on the Hindus at Nasirnagar on October 30.
The probe bodies, one formed by the Brahmanbaira police and the other by deputy commissioner, however, missed the deadline for submitting their reports.
In continuation of the attacks, miscreants set fire to the house of Chhottu Lal Das of Paschimpara of Nasirnagar early Sunday.
Earlier miscreants had set fire to at least six houses of the Hindus on November 4 and 5.
This spate of attacks followed October 30 atrocities when about 200 houses and business establishments and 22 temples of the religious minority group were vandalised and robbed during the attacks on the Hindus at Nasirnagar upazila town and Haripur union.
The attacks came following two rallies organised by Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat and Towhidi Janata of qoumi madrassah group, backed by Hefajat-e-Islam.
The demonstrators demanded punishment of a Hindu youth of Haripur union, Rasraj Das, allegedly for sharing a doctored photo showing an idol set on the Kaaba on his Facebook wall on October 28.
Chittagong range additional deputy inspector general of police Shakhawat Hossain, police headquarters probe committee chief, said that they submitted their report to the inspector general of police.
They in their investigation found negligence of upazila nirbahi officer and police officer-in-charge.
‘We have recommended strong and effective communications between UNO and OC,’ he said.
Police should enhance their capacity to collect advance intelligence to face any kind of untoward incidents, he thinks.
The investigation found that ‘the attacks started at Haripur and a third party instigated it taking advantage of intra-party conflicts between ruling Awami League’s union unit president [Faruk Hossain] and union council chairman [Dewan Atikur Rahman Akhi elected with party nomination] of Haripur…This third party also instigated attacks at Nasirnagar town.’
It also found negligence of local administration and police. ‘Local administration and police had made wrong assessment…UNO had given permission to hold the rallies without consulting local police.’
District police probe committee chief Brahmanbaria additional superintendent of police Iqbal Hossain on Monday evening said that they would submit their report to the district superintendent of police by night.
Additional district magistrate Shamsul Haque, who leads the probe committee formed by deputy commissioner, said they were still investigating the attacks.
The police headquarters formed the probe body on November 1 asking for the report in seven working days while district police formed the committee on October 31 to submit the report in 10 working days.
The deputy commissioner formed a probe committee on October 31, giving 10 working days to submit the report.
All the three probe committees were asked to identify the causes behind the attacks and find whether the local police and administration had any negligence while dealing with the attacks, officials said.