Bangladesh HC orders judicial probe into communal violence

The High Court of Bangladesh has ordered a judicial probe into the recent incidents of communal violence in six districts of Bangladesh which started on October 13, in the last days of Durga Puja. In its order on Thursday, the court asked the judicial magistrates of Rangpur, Cumilla, Chattogram, Feni, Chandpur and Noakhali to probe the incidents of communal violence and submit the report within 60 days, reports the official news agency BSS. The High Court also asked the concerned authorities to explain to why it shall not declare as illegal the ‘inaction’ of local administration to ensure the security of the victims.
Earlier, Foreign Minister Dr. A K Abdul Momen had said that in recent incidents of communal violence in Bangladesh 6 people died including 4 Muslims killed in police firing. Criticizing some media outlets and individuals for ‘spreading cooked up stories of deaths and rapes of the religious minority, Dr. Momen said that all perpetrators have been arrested. Bangladesh witnessed vandalism against temples and attacks on minority Hindu community homes and business establishments across several places following a reported desecration of the Holy Quran inside a Puja mandap in Cumilla. Subsequently, police arrested one Iqbal Hossain who confessed to have done the act of desecration inside the mandap.