Dhaka: Police have arrested 10 people for vandalizing four temples, several idols, six shops and some houses of Hindu people in Shiyali village of Roopa Upazila in southern Khulna, a senior police officer confirmed on Sunday.
A police officer told IANS that the incident took place on Saturday afternoon, following which tension prevailed in the area and the authorities had to deploy additional police force.
According to locals, a group of women devotees took out a procession from Poorva Para temple to Shiyali crematorium at around 9 pm on Friday night. They had crossed a mosque on the way, during which the preceptor of the mosque, the Imam, raised slogans and opposed the procession. This led to a heated argument between Hindu devotees and Islamic clerics. It was decided that the matter would be taken up with the police on Saturday.
The arrests have been made following a complaint lodged on Saturday night. However, the police did not say who was charged and who was arrested in this case.
According to the police, around 5.45 pm on Saturday evening, about a hundred attackers reached the village with weapons and started sabotaging. During the violence, four temples were vandalized and one house was vandalized. Simultaneously, six shops belonging to the Hindu community were vandalized in Shiyali village.
Local worship Ujjain council president Shaktipad Basu said the police chased the Hindus when they went to the Shiyali Camp police station to lodge a complaint. Sadhna Adhikari, president of Ghatbhog Sangh, also reached the village and told that such violence and sabotage had never happened in the village before.
Basu told IANS that more than a hundred Islamists attacked with shovels, sickles and caused mass destruction. They ransacked Ganesh Malik’s medicine shop, Srivastava Malik’s grocery store, Saurav Malik’s tea and grocery store, Anirban Heera and his father’s shop in the market. When the Hindus tried to intervene, the miscreants beat them up and badly injured them. Before the villagers could unite and fight, the accused youths fled the spot.
Along with this, the miscreants also looted the residence of Shibpad Dhar. The ‘Govinda Mandir’ in his house was also vandalised. Other temples that were desecrated include the ‘Hari Mandir’ of Shiyali Purbapara, the Durga Temple and the Shiyali Mahasanshan Temple.
Sub-District Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Rubaiya Tasneem said that soon after Saturday’s incident he had met local Hindu and Muslim community leaders along with administration and police officials.
“We, the district administration and law enforcement officials, immediately went there and met the local people to resolve the conflict,” Tasneem said.
Sardar Musharraf Hussain, officer-in-charge of Rupsha police station, said that the situation in the area is calm. Both the UNO of Rupsa and the OC of the police station said there was an argument between the two sides over the allegation that members of the Hindu community were ‘singing’ during prayers at the mosque on Friday evening, which they termed as a ‘misunderstanding’. ‘.
However, the UNO of Roopa Upazila said the ‘conflict’ was resolved on the same day and Saturday’s attack had nothing to do with the incident. Locals, who demanded anonymity, accused the youth of nearby Chandpur village of plotting the attack.
A police team of Superintendent of Police (SP), Additional SP also reached the spot.
SP (Khulna) Mehboob Hassan said that police teams have been deployed in the area and the situation in Shiyali village is under control. He said that the police is coordinating with the local people in this matter.
(This report has not been edited by ABP Network staff and is automatically generated and published from a syndicated feed. Only the title has been reworked.)
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