S M Shafiqul Islam, Lalmonirhat Correspondent :
Detectives in a drive arrested six more people in connection with the lynching of a young man over ‘disrespecting Quran’ in Burimari of Lalmonirhat, from different parts of the upazila early Tuesday.
Omar Faruk, officer-in-charge of DB police, said six people were arrested from different places of the upazila in the dead of night.
Earlier, police arrested ten people in this connection, said Sumonto Kumar Mohonto, officer-in-charge of Patgram Police Station.
With the fresh ones, sixteen people have so far been arrested in this connection. Shahidunnabi Jewel, son of Abdul Wazed Mia of Shalban Mistripara in Rangpur district town, and a former librarian of Rangpur Cantonment Public School and College, was beaten to death by mob in Lalmonirhat’s Patgram upazila over some people accusing him of ‘disrespecting the Quran’.
They also burned his body after killing him. Saiful Islam, cousin of Jewel filed a case with Patgram Police Station on October 31. Besides, two more cases were filed in this connection. A three-member probe body was formed to look into the incident.
A court on Tuesday postponed the hearing of a five-day remand application of five people arrested on charges of killing and burning the body of Shahidunnabi Jewel, who was killed in a mass beating at Burimari in Lalmonirhat. The information was confirmed by Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) Zahid Hasan on Monday at around 12 noon.
Earlier on Sunday at around 6pm, Judge Ferdousi Begum of Lalmonirhat Senior Judicial Court-3 set a remand hearing on Monday and directed to send the accused to jail.
Meanwhile, police have arrested five more people, including 60-year-old Khamed Jobed Ali of Burimari Jame Mosque, in connection with the murder. A total of 10 people were arrested in this connection. All of them are residents of Burimari. Patgram Police Officer-in-Charge (OC) Sumant Kumar Mohant confirmed the arrest of five people, including a mosque attendant on Monday afternoon. He did not disclose the names of the remaining four people for the sake of investigation. According to his family, the accused decorator Hossain Ali (38) was picked up by the people of the intelligence agency last Saturday night.
The cases filed against mostly unidentified individuals were handed over to the Detective Branch of Police for further investigation
Police and Detective Branch (DB) of police arrested five more people in the three cases filed over a mob lynching incident in Burimari union of Lalmonirhat’s Patgram, where a man was lynched by and immolated over rumors of Quran desecration.
Moreover, the cases filed against mostly unidentified individuals were handed over to the Detective Branch of Police for further investigation, confirmed Patgram police station Officer-in-Charge (OC) Sumon Kumar Mohant.
On October 29, Abu Yunus Md Shahidunnabi Jewel, 50, was beaten to death by an angry mob on the Burimari Union Parishad premises in Patgram upazila of Lalmonirhat.
The mob then took his body some 300 metres away to the Prothom Bashkol area on Lalmonirhat-Burimari highway and set it on fire, fuelled with dried materials, tyres, and petrol.
Over a thousand people were present during the incident, including people from outside Lalmonirhat, as rumors of Quran desecration spread, according to Patgram Upazila Nirbahi Officer Kamrun Nahar.
With the five arrested, altogether 10 people have been taken into custody in connection with the incident.
Lalmonirhat DB Officer-in-Charge Omor Faruk said five of the arrested have been produced in the court, which sent them to jail after denying the bail plea. DB sought a five-day remand for each of them and hearing regarding the matter will be held on November 3.
On Saturday, the deceased’s cousin Saiful Alam filed a case naming 43 persons and hundreds unknown, Burimari Union Parishad Chairman Abu Syed Newaz Nishat filed another case naming 22 persons and hundreds unknown while Patgram Police Station Sub Inspector (SI) Md Shahjahan filed yet another case.
Two probe committees – one by the district administration and another by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) – were formed to investigate the incident.
During the ongoing investigation by the NHRC, its director of investigation Al Mahmud Faizul Kabir, on Sunday said they have not yet found any proof of Quran desecration.
