The attacks on several Hindu temples in Nasirnagar upazila were carried out as per a well-designed plan to grab lands belonging to the minority community, said National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on Wednesday.
The country’s top rights body said it after initial investigation into the attacks.
“Our investigation is still underway, but our initial findings suggest that an organised quarter carried out the attacks in a planned manner,” Enamul Haque Chowdhury, Chief of the NHRC fact-finding committee and member of a probe panel, told media yesterday.
He said that near simultaneous attacks were launched at several temples and Hindu households at different locations in Nasirnagar to render police helpless.
“We are expecting to wrap up our investigations within the next two days,” Enamul Haque said, adding, “The attack was launched to drive away the Hindus from their land.
The NHRC chief also blamed the local administration for the failure to prevent the mayhem.
Meanwhile, the authorities on Wednesday suspended the officer-in-charge (OC) of Nasirnagar Police Station Abdul Quader amid complaints of police inefficiency in containing the troublemakers.
Indian High Commission sent a delegation yesterday led by a First Secretary to the scene of the attacks. A five-member delegation of the ruling Awami League, led by the party’s organising secretary Enamul Haq Shamim also visited the affected area. Hindu community leaders had also earlier said the attacks were carried out to evict Hindus from their own lands by creating fear.
Several hundred people attacked and ransacked at least 15 Hindu temples and over 20 households in Nasirnagar under Brahmanbaria’s district after a Facebook post deemed offensive to Islam sparked massive outrage in the overwhelming Muslim-majority country. Brahmanbaria’s Police Superintendent Mizanur Rahman said that police had arrested nine people who seemed to be directly linked to the attacks as temple authorities filed two separate cases.
A Hindu youth who allegedly posted the ‘blasphemous’ content on his Facebok account sparking the outrage was also arrested on charge of creating the unrest. However, media reports later suggested that unidentified miscreants had hacked his account and uploaded the controversial post.
Several priests of the temples suffered injuries in the attacks during the raids and were taken to hospitals for treatment. According to media reports, a little known outfit called Touhidi Janata called a protest rally on Sunday using megaphones over the Facebook post and the rampage on Hindus was carried out after that rally.
