News Desk :
Senior BNP leader Barkat Ullah Bulu has been named along with 14 other BNP and Jamaat-e-Islam men by the arrested suspects over violence against Hindus in Noakhali’s Chowmuhani, say police.
Detained Jatiyatabadi Swechchasebak Dal leader Foisal Inam Komol admitted during questioning that Bulu along with other BNP and Jamaat leaders instigated the attacks, Superintendent of Police (SP) Md Shahidul Islam said in a media briefing on Tuesday.
He added that another arrestee admitted to looting Tk135,000 from the Ram Thakur Temple located on Chowmuhani Bank Road on the day of attack.
According to SP Islam, Komol was arrested under the Digital Security Act and produced before Noakhali Senior Judicial Magistrate Judge Saidin Nahi on Monday night.
He confessed under Section 164 and named 15 BNP-Jamaat men including Bulu, he added.
Police have so far arrested as many as 200 people in 26 cases filed over the attacks in Noakhali.
Among them, 11 BNP and Jamaat activists and leaders were arrested in a Digital Security Act case opened with Begumganj Police Station.
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The Comilla incident triggered a series of anti-Hindu violence that spread to Chandpur, Chittagong, Noakhali, Feni and Rangpur where temples were vandalised and Hindu households and businesses burned.
Last week, police arrested Iqbal Hossain, the man responsible for keeping the Quran on an idol at the Nanuar Dighi puja mandap.
At least 71 cases have been filed in different parts of the country and police have arrested over 500 people over the attacks.
