A Rangpur court sent five men to jail on Wednesday in connection with attacks on the homes of Hindu families in the district’s Gangachara upazila on July 26–27.
Gangachara Cognizance court magistrate Krishnakamal Roy passed the order after Gangachara police officer-in-charge Al Emran produced the accused before the court with a seven-day remand plea, scheduling the remand hearing for today.
The police have identified the five accused as Yasin Ali, Swadhin, Ashraful Islam, Atikur Rahman and Saddam Hossain, all residents of various villages in the neighbouring Kishoreganj upazila of Nilphamari district.
The five were arrested in a case filed on Tuesday over the attack perpetrated three days ago.
The five men were nabbed in a joint operation in a case filed over the attack, said a press release issued on Wednesday by the Police Headquarters.
Rabindranath Roy, 55, resident of the village, filed the case with the Gangachara model police against 1,000–1,200 unidentified individuals, said the press release.
The attack was perpetrated after a Facebook post allegedly defaming the Prophet Muhammad given by a 17-year-old named Ranjan Roy, a resident of the village.
The post went viral on social media by Saturday afternoon, sparking outrage across Aldadpur Chhayani village in Gangachara upazila, and nearby Kishoreganj.
Later, the police arrested Ranjan, a student of Private Polytechnic Institute in Rangpur, on Saturday amid protests and later sent to a juvenile correction centre through a court order on Sunday.
Local people and enraged groups, meanwhile, attacked the houses of the Hindu families in the village, leaving at least 12 houses, which had been home to 22 families, damaged on July 26–27.
Ain O Salish Kendra, The Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust, Bangladesh Mahila Parishad, Bangladesh Udichi Shilpigoshthi, Ganosamhati Andolon, the Communist Party of Bangladesh and Naripokkho in separate statements condemned the attack, calling for a fair investigation and bringing the perpetrators to justice.
