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.

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