On 21st October, a man identified as Shah Alam entered the Durga Puja Mandap of Sri Sri Rakshakali Temple in the Sompura area of Hathazari, Chittagong, with a bag full of Quran copies. He was apprehended by the Puja Celebration Committee and handed over to the police. However, the police released him without investigation, citing mental instability. The incident took place at around 8 PM.
Speaking to the media, General Secretary of the Puja Celebration Committee Gobinda Kantinath said, “When the person entered the Mandap, his suspicious behaviour raised our concern. Around 8 PM, we detained him for questioning and searched his bag. We found three copies of the Quran Sharif and some Jihadist books, among other items. We promptly handed him over to the Hathazari police sub-inspector Jasim, in accordance with the law.”
The Organisational Editor of the Committee, Jyotin Nandi, said Alam entered the Mandap at around 8 PM. He was wearing white clothes and sat among the devotees. Several Committee members sat around him out of suspicion. One of the Committee members noticed books resembling Quran Sharif in his bag beside his chair. He immediately raised an alarm, and Alam was apprehended.
Nandi said, “After detaining him, we asked for the man’s name, but he remained silent and only said “insane.” At the time, anyone caught was considered to be “insane.” We handed him over to the police, but they did not investigate further and simply released him without conducting a thorough inquiry.”
He added, “During the detainment, Alam displayed peculiar behaviour. We asked him for his bag, but he refused. At that moment, we became suspicious that the bag may contain something of concern. Upon inspection, we discovered a copy of the Quran Sharif and several books promoting Jihadist ideologies inside the bag. The police came and took him to the police station. Based on our observations, he may intend to cause a disturbance by placing the Quran Sharif inside the Mandap, similar to an incident in Comilla.”
However, the police allegedly released him without a thorough investigation. The Committee members said the police claimed Alam was mentally unsound. Interestingly, the Committee members were not informed by the police that Alam was released.
In a statement, Hathazari Police Station in-charge Md Moniruzzaman said Alam’s statement suggested he was suffering from some sort of mental issue. The police contacted his family, who brought his medical records that mentioned mental and verbal issues. The family also provided a history of medical treatment Alam allegedly received at the Dhaka Medical College and Hospital on 16th October last year.
He further said that Alam came from Horoshal to Chittagong and was wandering around shrines, mosques and temples. Initially, Alam said he was a devotee of Maizbhandar Sharif in Mayizbhandar. The police released him at 11 PM. However, the information about his release went viral on social media, after which he was rearrested at 2 AM from Mainbhandar Sharif Area. A comprehensive inquiry into the matter has been launched to determine why he was present at the Puja Mandap with the bag full of Islamic text.
Comilla anti-Hindu riots
On 13th October 2021, a 35-year-old man named Iqbal Hossain placed a copy of the Quran on the feet of the idol of Lord Hanuman at the Nanuar Dighir Par Durga Mandir in the Cumilla district of Bangladesh. This act triggered a series of violent attacks against the minority Hindu community in the country. The Hindu community denied involvement in keeping the Islamic Holy book at the Puja Pandal and accused Iqbal Hossain of deliberately inciting trouble. Houses and temples belonging to the Hindu community in Bangladesh have been attacked for over five days. Videos of broken idols, demolished pandals, and the Moorti of Maa Durga being thrown into a pond have emerged on social media platforms, along with other videos of attacks on Hindus. Later on, it was discovered that the caretakers of a nearby mosque gave Iqbal Hossain a copy of the Quran. On 21st October 2021, the Tongi Purba Police Station in Ghazipur arrested the accused from Cox Bazar and charged him under Bangladesh’s strict Digital Security Act. The CCTV footage analysis revealed that the accused had incited violence and delivered hate speeches against Hindus in the morning. On 3rd March 2023, Hossain was sentenced to 16 months in prison.