Iqbal Hossain and three others accused in an alleged case of desecration of Quran at a temporary Puja site in Cumilla's Nanuwar Dighir Par have been remanded for a further five days, allowing police to further quiz them. Cumilla Senior Judicial Magistrate Farhana Sultana granted the remand Friday afternoon after police applied for a seven-day remand in the case of hurting religious sentiments. Mohammad Rezwan, police super of Cumilla Criminal Investigation Department (CID), confirmed the development to UNB. Iqbal and three others – Ekram, who called 999 after the incident, and Daroga Bari shrine caretakers Humayun Kabir and Faisal – need to be questioned further as they have started disclosing facts, Rezwan said. The previous seven-day remand ended Friday. Police handed over the Quran desecration case against Iqbal Hossain and three others to the CID on October 24. Read: Quran desecration case against Iqbal, 3 others transferred to CID The instruction came from the Police Headquarters, Rezwan said. "Also, the law enforcers took Iqbal to the Daroga Bari Mazar Mosque pond at night. At 11pm the divers found the mace which went missing from Nanuar Dighi puja site in Cumilla city," Parimal Das, inspector of Cumilla Detective Branch of Police, said. In footage of closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras, Iqbal could be seen taking the Quran from a local mosque and entering a Durga Puja site. He is later seen walking away with a mace, taken from an idol of Lord Hanuman.

The ‘Gada’ (Mace) of Hindu God Hanuman which went missing from a Cumilla temple has been recovered from a pond  near the Darogabari Mazar mosque in the district. Iqbal Hossain, the man arrested for placing the Holy Quran at a Hindu temple, reportedly threw the mace into the pond on the night of the incident. Read:Iqbal, the prime suspect in Bangladesh communal violence brought to Cumilla Inspector Parimal Das of the Detective Branch said it was recovered around 11 pm Sunday. “After Iqbal confessed that he had dropped the Hindu God’s weapon in a pond, police took him to the pond  and a diving team recovered the mace ,” he added. Besides, the case filed over the Quran desecration in a puja mandap of Cumilla, has been handed over to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID).  Cumilla Additional Superintendent of Police M Tanvir Ahmed said the case was handed over to CID following an instruction from the Police Headquarters. Police arrested Iqbal Hossain from Cox’s Bazar district on Thursday night after identifying him by scanning the footages 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. Read:Cumilla desecration suspect, 3 others remanded in 7-day police custody A local court on Saturday put them on a seven-day remand in the case. Iqbal is believed to have placed the holy Quran inside Nanuar Dighi Par puja mandap in Cumilla city in the early hours of October 13, which led to attacks on Durga Puja venues across the country recently.

Police handed over the Quran desecration case against Iqbal Hossain and three others to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) Sunday. The instruction came from the Police Headquarters, Mohammad Rezwan, police super of Cumilla CID, told UNB. "Also, the law enforcers took Iqbal to the Daroga Bari Mazar Mosque pond at night. At 11pm the divers found the mace which went missing from Nanuar Dighi puja site in Cumilla city," Parimal Das, inspector of Cumilla Detective Branch of Police, told UNB. In footage of closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras, Iqbal could be seen taking the Quran from a local mosque and entering a Durga Puja site. He is later seen walking away with a mace, taken from an idol of Lord Hanuman. Read: Iqbal, the prime suspect in Bangladesh communal violence, brought to Cumilla

Police Thursday night held a man suspecting him to be Iqbal Hossain, who was identified earlier as the one who kept a copy of the Quran at a Durga Puja venue in Cumilla, drawing accusations of desecrating the Quran hurled at the Hindu community and triggering communal tension and 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 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 the closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage. Read: Provocation perhaps there behind Cumilla incident: Home Minister He is believed to have placed the holy Quran inside Nanuar Dighi Par puja mandap in Cumilla city in the early hours of October 13, which led to attacks on Durga Puja venues across the country recently.