Police on Thursday night detained a man suspecting him to be Iqbal Hossain, who has been identified as the one who kept a copy of the holy Quran at a Durga Puja mandap in Cumilla. The incident led to accusation against the Hindu community of desecrating the Quran and triggered communal violence across the country.
“He was detained from the Cox’s Bazar sea beach at around 10:30pm and was sent to Cumilla right away,” Rafiqul Islam, Cox’s Bazar additional superintendent of police told news agency UNB.
“Cumilla police will confirm if the detainee is the key suspect Iqbal,” he added.
Police identified Iqbal, the prime suspect of the Cumilla puja venue incident, Wednesday after scrutinising some CCTV footage.
He is believed to have placed the holy Quran inside Nanua Dighir Par puja mandap in Cumilla city in the small hours of 13 October, which led to attacks on Durga Puja venues across the country recently.
Also, violence against houses and businesses of the Hindu community followed in several districts, including Chandpur, Noakhali, Chattogram and Rangpur, leaving at least seven people dead and many injured. Of the dead, five were Muslim rioters who died in police firing.
Iqbal was most likely instructed by others to keep the holy Quran at the mandap with a view to stoking communal tensions, said home minister Asaduzzaman Khan on Thursday.
“Everything was done in a planned way. The man, who had kept the Quran at the temple, might have done it as per others’ instruction… there might be provocation behind it. We’ll know the motives after his arrest,” the home minister added.
He further said after examining the CCTV footage of the surrounding area it has been ascertained that the man who kept the holy Quran at the Cumilla temple took it from a mosque.
“The man had been to Mazar mosque thrice that night. It was clear from the CCTV footage that he took the copy of the Quran from the mosque to keep it at the temple,” Asaduzzaman added.