Security has been beefed up in Faridpur鈥檚 Madhukhali, where tension ran high after two Muslim construction workers were beaten to death by a Hindu mob over an incident of fire in a local temple.
Police identified the deceased as siblings Ashraful Khan, 20, and Arshadul Khan, 18, sons of Shahjahan Khan, a resident of Choperghat, a village in the Nowapara union of Madhukhali.
Police and Border Guard Bangladesh were deployed in the area on Friday to avoid any further escalation in violence after the construction workers were killed by a mob of Hindu people on Thursday evening.
鈥楾he situation looks normal now, though there are fears and tensions,鈥� said Zahidul Hasan, chairman, Nowapara union parishad.
鈥楾he entire area is wrapped in a security blanket,鈥� he said, adding that a team of Border Guard Bangladesh was patrolling the area alongside police.
Madhukhali police station鈥檚 duty officer, Rebeka Parvin, said Friday afternoon that the process of filing a case over the incident was underway.
She said that at least 11 police officers were injured as police were attacked when law enforcers had gone to rescue the construction workers held hostage by the angry mob in Krishnanagar village in Dumain union, which is adjacent to Nowapara union parishad.
The duty officer said that two of the injured police officers needed to be hospitalised.
At least two other construction workers are being treated at Faridpur Medical College and Hospital after they were rescued by police from the mob, the police said.
Shah Asaduzzaman Tapan, chairman, Dumain union parishad, said that the construction workers were engaged in work at the Panhapolli Government Primary School, which is adjacent to the temple where the fire incident occurred after maghrib prayer on Thursday.
The fire incident had mobilised a mob of over a thousand Hindu men from nearby five Hindu-dominated villages, said Tapan.
The mob swooped on the construction workers, suspecting that they had set the temple on fire.
鈥楾he mob was so enraged that even I had to stay away from it and remain in a kind of shelter during the incident,鈥� said Tapan.
The area turned into a battlefield after the police reached there to rescue the construction workers, and the battle went on for two hours until backup arrived.
鈥楶olice had to fire blank shots to disperse the crowd,鈥� said Tapan.
Faridpur Kotwali police station鈥檚 officer in charge, Mohammad Hasanuzzaman, said that two of the construction workers were declared dead after they were brought to Faridpur Medical College and Hospital.
Of the two others admitted to the hospital, he said, the condition of one of them is critical.
Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council general secretary Rana Dasgupta said that they were investigating the incident and refrained from making any comments on it.
鈥榃e have requested authorities to take measures so that the situation does not deteriorate further,鈥� said Rana Dasgupta.
News agency UNB reported that the deputy commissioner鈥檚 office had formed a three-member committee to investigate the incident.
Rights group Ain O Shalish Kenda reported 21 incidents of attacks on minorities, mostly Hindus, between January and March this year, which left 28 people wounded.
In 2023, the same rights group reported attacks on 108 houses and 29 business centres belonging to minority communities in 22 incidents, which left one dead and 81 injured.
