3,500 face charges over deadly clashes at Nural Pagla's shrine in Rajbari

One person was killed and around 50 injured during Friday's clashes

Police in Rajbari’s Goalanda have filed a case against around 3,500 unidentified people after an attack on law enforcers during violent clashes at the shrine of Nurul Haque, better known as "Nural Pagla".

Goalanda Ghat Police Station chief Md Rakibul Islam said that the case was lodged in the early hours of Saturday.

The violence broke out on Friday afternoon in Juron Mollapara of Goalanda municipality’s Ward 5, where Nural Pagla’s shrine is located.

Nurul, who had declared himself Imam Mahdi -- an end times religious figure in Shia Islam, died recently and was buried in a grave raised slightly above ground level. The grave was also designed in the style of the Kaaba, the holiest site in Islam.

The design fuelled anger among the "Tawhidi Janata", a loosely defined Islamist movement portraying itself as defenders of Islamic morality, who had been staging protests in recent days. Local authorities had been attempting to mediate between the two sides.

According to Rakibul, after Jummah prayers on Friday, the Tawhidi Janata organised a protest rally that escalated into an attack on the shrine. Followers of Nural Pagla retaliated, leading to fierce clashes.

One person was killed and about 50 others were injured in the violence, he said.

The mob later stormed the shrine and set it ablaze. Police attempting to bring the situation under control were themselves attacked, and at least one police vehicle was vandalised.

Since the incident, law enforcement has been deployed in and around the shrine, which remains under police control. Public access to the site has been suspended.