A Brahmanbaria court on Thursday sentenced 13 people including a former union parishad chairman to four years in prison in a case over the torching a Hindu temple in a communal violence in Nasirnagar upazila of the district around five years back. Brahmanbaria Chief Judicial Magistrate Mohammad Masud Parvez also fined the defendants Tk 2,000 each, Didarul Alam, inspector of the district court, confirmed the news. The accused--local Awami League leader and former UP Chairman Dewan Atikur Rahman Akhi, Md Mokhles Miah, Md Mofizul Hoque, Khasrul Miah, Nazir Rahman, Md Mahfuz Miah, Idu Miah, Sheikh Md Abdul Ahad, Saiham Rabbi Shyam, Mir Kashem, Anis Miah, Tabarak Reza and Sajeeb Chowdhury are from different areas of the Nasirnagar upazila.   Eight of the 13 accused were present at the court while delivering the judgment. According to the case statement, miscreants vandalised and torched establishments including a temple belonging to the Hindu community in some areas of the upazila after spreading a rumour over a derogatory post on Islam from a Facebook account of one Rosraj Das, a resident of Harinveda village under Haripur union of the upazila, on October 30, 2016. A total of eight cases were filed involving the violence later. The case’s investigating officer later submitted the chargesheet accusing the 13 people. Read more: Cumilla incident aimed at destroying communal harmony: Home Minister After completing all legal procedures, the court handed down the judgment in absence of the five accused on Thursday. Being aggrieved at the verdict, defence lawyer Kamruzzaman Mamun said they would appeal against the verdict. The plaintiffs’ counsel Nazmul Hossain expressed satisfaction over the judgment, saying that the justice has been established through the verdict.    

Miscreants vandalised hindu idols and torched a temple in Phulbari upazila of Kurigram following a land dispute early Tuesday, said police. The crime took place around 1am in Nagdanga village of Naodanga union of the upazila in the temple adjacent to the house of local Ratikanto Roy, said Fazlur Rahman, officer-in-charge (OC) of Fulbari police station. As locals sensed their presence and informed Ratikanto, the miscreants fled the scene. About 40 percent of the temple structure was affected in the fire, Ratikanto said. According to the locals, the miscreants committed such a crime following a land dispute. Read:4 youths held for vandalising idol at Pirojpur temple Ratikanto Roy's grandfather Shirish Chandra Roy sold 60 decimal of land to Abdus Samad Ghatial of Lalmonirhat district about 35 years ago. There was also a temple on two decimal areas of the land and Samad's family had been living there for a long time. But Samad's two sons demanded two decimals of land somewhere else instead of that occupied by the temple. Finally on May 6, the Union Parishad chairman asked Samad's sons two leave two decimals of land for the temple and road. On Monday, Samad's elder son Shahidul had an altercation with Ratikanto's brother Shibcharan over cutting bamboo in the temple area, said Samad's another son Azimul. "Then the temple was torched at night. This is done to frame us," he added. Phulbari Naodanga Union Hindu Buddhist Christian Oikya Parishad General Secretary Ratan Roy said miscreants may have committed this crime to create fear among Hindus. They also demanded immediate action. However, no case has been filed yet, said the OC. Superintendent of Kurigram Police Syeda Jannat Ara said legal steps will be taken soon after an investigation.

Another case was filed on Tuesday over Cumilla communal violence triggered by alleged desecration of the Holy Quran at a Hindu temple. The case was filed by Puja Rani, wife of Dilip Das (62) who died from injuries he suffered when troublemakers attacked Rajeshwari Kali Mandir in Manoharpur of the district on October 13. Inspector Komol Krishna Dhor of Kotwali Police Station, where the case was filed, told UNB that 50-60 unidentified people were named in the case. Meanwhile, Superintendent of Police(Cumilla)  Khan Muhammad Rezwan said that the Criminal Investigation Department is keeping watch over several more people in another case filed over triggering communal violence by hurting religious sentiments. Read: Iqbal, the prime suspect in Bangladesh communal violence brought to Cumilla “Soon, we will arrest several others over the incident,” he added. Meanwhile, Cumilla police continued to quiz Iqbal Hossain, who reportedly placed the Holy Quran at a Puja mandap at Nauar Digir Par of Cumilla. The SP said that though Iqbal confessed to his role in placing the Quran, he was yet to disclose the names of the masterminds. He said three others, arrested in connection with the violence, are also being interrogated. Earlier, the case filed over the Quran desecration in a puja mandap of Cumilla was handed over to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID). Read: Cumilla desecration suspect, 3 others remanded in 7-day police custody Police arrested Iqbal from Cox’s Bazar district on Thursday night after identifying him by scanning the footage of closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras. Three others were arrested from different parts of the country over the matter. They are Faisal and Hafez Humayun, the two khadems of Darogabari shrine, and Ekram.A local court on Saturday put them on a seven-day remand in the case.

An idol of Hindu goddesses was vandalised by some miscreants at a temple in Rangamati district town on Tuesday night.