Feni Correspondent :Police have arrested eight people over an attack on Hindus in Feni. They were arrested at Mathiara village on Friday, a day after the attack at Jeleparha, Feni Model Police Station OC Mahbub Morshed said. An altercation over setting off firecrackers during Laxmi Puja led to the attack, police and locals said.A pregnant woman, Tulshi Rani Das, 20, and at least nine others were injured in the attack after midnight on Wednesday. Tulshi Rani later gave birth to a stillborn baby. She was taken to the Sadar Hospital after giving birth to the dead child on Thursday morning. Doctor Sarwar Jahan told The New Nation: “She (Tulshi Rani) started bleeding after injury in the attack. The following day, she gave birth to the baby.”But as the newborn was not showing any sign of life, both the baby and mother were rushed to the hospital. The baby was declared dead.”The mother is undergoing treatment at the gynaecology ward,” he added.Those arrested were identified as Alamgir Hossain Babu, 18, Jahangir Alam, 20, Zakir Hossain, 20, Kazi Nur Hossain, 20, Saddam Hossain Babu, 18, Amir Hossain, 38, Reaz Uddin, and Jahangir Alam Sumon.OC Morshed said he presented them before Feni’s Senior Judicial Magistrate Sheikh Md Badiul Alam’s Court after preliminary questioning on Friday evening.The judge set Nov 22 for the hearing of remand petition seeking to grill them in custody for five days. Jeleparha’s Jaharlal Das filed a case over the incident.The plaintiff told bdnews24.com there were 20 to 25 attackers from Mathiara.”They went on the rampage and looted valuables in several houses. They hacked and beat up the people of Jeleparha,” he alleged.”The attackers tortured seven-month old pregnant Tulshi. She bled because of this and gave birth to a dead child,” he added. The others injured in the attack included Jaharlal himself, Alo Rani Das, 28, Shobha Rani Das, 45, Shukdeb Das, 12, Parimal Das, 60, and ‘Bikash’, 24.A resident of the area, Serajul Islam, however, said it was a clash. He said a boy named ‘Iqbal’ forbade the Hindu boys when they were setting off firecrackers during the Esha prayers on Wednesday, a day after the Laxmi Puja.One of the Hindu boys ‘Swapan’ alias ‘Hatkata Swapan’ from Jeleparha assaulted Iqbal at the time, he claimed.Some of the locals went to the Jeleparha to inquire about the incident when they heard about it from Iqbal, he said.”Then the two sides chased each other,” he added.
