Case filed over desecration of grave of Nural Pagla, body burning after 2.5 months

The case accuses 96 named suspects and over 500 unnamed suspects

After two and a half months, a case has been filed in court over the desecration of the grave of Rajbari religious leader Nurul Haque aka Nural Pagla, the burning of his body, and the attack, vandalism, and looting of his complex.

Nurul’s sister-in-law Shirina filed a case with a Rajbari court over the matter on Thursday, said lawyer Shariful Islam.

The case names 96 suspects and accuses more than 500 unidentified others.

Shariful said that Judge Senior Judicial Magistrate Tamjid Hossain has ordered the Police Bureau of Investigation (PBI) to take cognisance of the case and investigate it. The PBI has also been instructed to submit a report on the investigation by Dec 22 of this year.

According to the case dossier, Nurul died of old age on Aug 23 in Goalanda. That night, he was buried in a grave slightly raised above the ground inside his housing complex. The grave was modelled after the Kaaba – the holiest site in Islam.

On Sept 5, after Friday prayers, a loosely defined Islamist movement called the “Tawhidi Janata” – which portrays itself as a defender of Islamic morality - attacked the Nurul’s complex, alleging that the burial was against Sharia law.

During the clash, a devotee of Nurul named Russel Molla was killed and several others were injured.

At one stage, the attackers dug up Nurul’s grave, took out his body and burned it on the highway. Later, they looted the house. Police were also attacked.

Later, the police filed a case against 3,000-3,500 unknown persons in connection with the attack on the police.

Similarly, Md Azad Molla, the father of Russel, filed a murder case against 4,000 – 4,500 unknown persons.

So far, the police have arrested 28 people in connection with those two cases.