Rangpur communal violence
Accused placed on 7-day remand
UNB
RANGPUR: A court on Wednesday put the accused in an arson case related to the communal violence that occurred in Rangpur last month in remand for 7 days, reports UNB. A number of houses in a Hindu-majority village called Thakurpara under Sadar Upazila in Rangpur were razed to the ground, reportedly following a Facebook post defaming Islam and its prophet. The alleged creator or circulator of the Facebook post is said to have resided in that village.
The judicial magistrate Ariful Islam passed the order while sub- inspector of Gangachara police station Mister Ali also the investigation officer of the case produced Fazlar Rahman, an assistant engineer of the Rangpur Zila parishad, with a 10-day remand prayer.
The court turned down a petition for granting bail to the accused before passing the order. Earlier a team of the Detective Branch of police arrested Fazlar Rahman from Shyamoli in Dhaka on Saturday.
Hundreds of protestors held a human chain after blocking the Rangpur - Dinajpur Highway at Paglapir Bazar in Sadar Upazila after Jumma prayers on November 10 demanding punishment of one Titu Roy, who allegedly behind the Facebook post defaming Islam and its prophet.
The angry mob later set fire to 8 houses including those of Titu Roy of at Thakurpara in the Sadar Upazila and clashed with the police.
The police opened fire and lobbed tear shells to disperse the mob, turning things even more violent - by the time it was all over, one person had died in police action, and 15 people including 3 policemen were injured.
