Person who kept Quran in Cumilla puja mandap identified

Police sources said the person who kept Quran at the puja mandap was Iqbal Hossain, son of Noor Ahmed Alam of Sujanagar area in Cumilla.

Iqbal Hossain was identified after examining the closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage, said Cumilla police super Faruque Ahmed.

He told journalists on Wednesday evening that it was possible to identify Iqbal with cooperation from different quarters. “We have been trying to arrest the culprit over the last couple of days,” he said.

Police said the Quran Sharif was kept sometime between 2:30 at night and 6:30 in the morning at the puja mandap. Just at that time, the gada or mace was removed from the right hand of Hindu god Hanuman. Police have also collected a CCTV footage which shows that a person was leaving the puja mandap with the gada.

The footage shows that a youth was coming out from the Darogabari Mosque with something in his hand at about 2:10am. His movement was suspicious.

After 1:02 hours, another CCTV footage shows that the youth was roaming on the north-east road near the makeshift puja mandap at Nanuadighi. He held a gada on his shoulders. Police and persons concerned with the puja mandap said the incident of inciting communal violence happened sometime between 2:30am and 6:30am.

It may be mentioned that a holy Quaran was seen at the makeshift puja mandap at Nanuar Dighir Uttarpar in Cumilla town on Wednesday (Oct 13) morning on the day of Mahaastami of Sharadiya Durga Puja. Then a group of people launched an attack on the puja mandap alleging desecration of the holy Quran. They also got involved in vandalism there.

Raising the allegation of desecrating the holy Quran, another group of unruly people went to launch an attack on the Hindu community at Hajiganj in Chandpur on that day. When police intercepted them, a violent clash broke out leaving four persons dead there.

On the following day, attacks were launched on Hindu temples, mandaps and business establishments of Hindus in Begumganj of Noakhali district where two people were killed.

Then another violent attack was launched on the houses of Hindus at Pirganj in Rangpur district. The attackers vandalised, looted and set ablaze the Hindu community’s houses and shops there.

Cumilla police sources said dozens of teams launched investigation in Dhaka and Cumilla over the last one week following Wednesday’s incidents. They examined the CCTV footage. After a lengthy investigation, the investigators were confirmed about Iqbal Hossain.