News Desk :
Police handed over the Quran desecration case against Iqbal Hossain and three others to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) Sunday.
The instruction came from the Police Headquarters, Mohammad Rezwan, police super of Cumilla CID, reports UNB.
“Also, the law enforcers took Iqbal to the Daroga Bari Mazar Mosque pond at night. At 11pm the divers found the mace which went missing from Nanuar Dighi puja site in Cumilla city,” Parimal Das, inspector of Cumilla Detective Branch of Police said.
In footage of closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras, Iqbal could be seen taking the Quran from a local mosque and entering a Durga Puja site. He is later seen walking away with a mace, taken from an idol of Lord Hanuman.
A few moments later he is not seen with the club and enters the shrine. Iqbal said he threw the club into the pond.
Police filed a case with Cumilla Kotwali Police Station on October 13 against unnamed people for “besmirching the Quran and hurting religious sentiments,” said Cumilla Additional Superintendent of Police M Tanvir Ahmed.
Saturday, Iqbal and three others – Ekram, who called 999 after the incident, and Daroga Bari shrine caretakers Humayun Kabir and Faisal – were placed on a seven-day remand.
The prime accused Iqbal was held from the Cox’s Bazar beach Thursday night. He was then taken to the Comilla Police Lines Friday. On October 13, a 999 call to police reported that a copy of the Quran was found on the lap of a Hanuman idol, but his weapon, a club, was missing from a puja site in Cumilla.
Iqbal placed the Quran on the lap of the idol. Ekram called the national emergency helpline “999” to report the “desecration of the holy scripture.”
It led to violence against houses and businesses of the Hindu community in several districts, including Cumilla, Chandpur, Noakhali, Chattogram and Rangpur, leaving at least eight people dead and many injured. Of the dead, five were Muslim rioters who died in police firing.
Police identified Iqbal, the prime suspect of the Cumilla puja venue incident, on October 20 after scrutinising the footage of several CCTV cameras.
Meanwhile, the ‘Gada’ (Mace) of Hindu God Hanuman which went missing from a Cumilla temple has been recovered from a pond near the Darogabari Mazar mosque in the district.
Iqbal Hossain, the man arrested for placing the Holy Quran at a Hindu temple, reportedly threw the mace into the pond on the night of the incident.
Inspector Parimal Das of the Detective Branch said it was recovered around 11 pm Sunday.
“After Iqbal confessed that he had dropped the Hindu God’s weapon in a pond, police took him to the pond and a diving team recovered the mace ,” he added.
Besides, the case filed over the Quran desecration in a puja mandap of Cumilla, has been handed over to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID).
Cumilla Additional Superintendent of Police M Tanvir Ahmed said the case was handed over to CID following an instruction from the Police Headquarters.
Police arrested Iqbal Hossain from Cox’s Bazar district on Thursday night after identifying him by scanning the footages of closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras.
Three others were arrested from different parts of the country over the matter.
They are Faisal and Hafez Humayun, the two khadems of Darogabari shrine, and Ekram.
A local court on Saturday put them on a seven-day remand in the case.
Iqbal is believed to have placed the holy Quran inside Nanuar Dighi Par puja mandap in Cumilla city in the early hours of October 13, which led to attacks on Durga Puja venues across the country recently.
