2 arrested over Pirganj communal violence
Published : 23 Oct 2021, 19:19
Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) has arrested two people, including one of the alleged masterminds, over the attacks on Hindu houses in Pirganj upazila of Rangpur district.
The arrestees are Md Shaikat Mandal (24), one of the alleged masterminds behind the attack, and Md Robiul Islam (36).
"A joint team of RAB headquarters' detective branch and RAB-13 arrested the duo from Tongi in Gazipur district during a raid on Friday night," RAB's Legal and Media Wing Director Commander Khandaker Al Moin told journalists at a briefing at RAB Media Center in the city's Karwanbazar area today.
During the primary interrogation, the arrestees confessed to their involvement in the incident, he said, adding that they deliberately incited the attackers by spreading propaganda on social media and through loudspeakers to create chaos and destroy communal harmony.
The RAB official said Shaikat provoked the locals on social media to take part in the attacks and under his leadership several people took part in the vandalism and looting and arson attacks on the houses of Hindu community.
Noting that Shaikat has 3,000 followers of his Facebook page, Moin said he (Shaikat) used to share various provocative and misleading posts in social media at different times.
Following a Facebook post of Shaikat, Robiul instigated the people by miking from a nearer mosque to carry out the arson attack on Hindu community at Boro Karimpur village of Pirganj upazila in Rangpur district on October 17, the RAB official said.
Source: BSS