Hindu teen arrested for 'hurting religious sentiments' in Rangpur, 14 homes vandalized

Following the alleged incident, enraged locals carried out attacks and vandalized at least 14 homes belonging to members of the Hindu community on Saturday night and again on Sunday afternoon. The situation was brought under control by the army around 4:30 pm today. Police said the arrested teenager, from a village in the Bedgari Union of Gangachara, is a third-semester student at a private polytechnic institute. Gangachara police station officer-in-charge Al Emran told Prothom Alo that the police received a complaint that a boy had posted offensive content and images about the Prophet Muhammad (SM) on Facebook. Once the allegations were found to be true, he was detained around 8:30 pm on Saturday and brought to the police station. He further said that a case was filed under the Cyber Security Act, and the boy was later sent to a juvenile rehabilitation center following a court order. Speaking with the police and locals revealed that soon after the boy was taken to the station, angry crowds gathered in front of his home demanding justice. Around 10:00 pm, another group of people came with a procession, attacked and vandalised the home of one of his relatives. The police and army went to the area that night to bring the situation under control. OC Al Emran said, “Police stayed at the scene until around 1:00 am. Once the situation was calm, they left. However, after Zuhr prayers today, we received information that thousands of people might march towards the area again. We deployed forces in the area and sought army support. Around 1:00 pm, police took up positions, and at around 3:30 pm, mobs began attacking homes again. Police tried to resist them, during which several of our members were injured. One constable was seriously hurt and taken to hospital.” Visiting the scene in the afternoon, police were seen stationed at Aldadpur Government Primary School. Just 500 yards away, a mob was vandalising homes. When the army arrived, the crowd dispersed. It was confirmed that at least 14 homes had been vandalised. Local resident Pramod Mohanto said the village is located near the border of Kishoreganj upazila in Nilphamari. Earlier in the day, a human chain protest had been announced in Banglabazar of Kishoreganj. Police in Gangachara had assured locals that protesters would not approach their village. However, around 3:00 pm, an agitated crowd marched with slogans from Khilalganj Bazar in Gangachara toward the homes of Hindu residents of the village of that teenager. Several homes were attacked, vandalized, and looted. Since the incident, police and army members have been patrolling the area. As of 6:15 pm, while preparing this report, a large number of agitated people were still gathered in Khilalganj Bazar, about half a kilometer from the spot, and chanting slogans against the accused teenager. Gangachara Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Mahmud Hasan Mridha went to talk to the agitated crowd in Khilalganj Bazar around 6:30 pm. He told Prothom Alo, “Law enforcement personnel are on the ground. We are doing everything we can to stop them.” (Source: Daily Prothom-Alo)