Noakhali communal violence: Suspect implicates 15 BNP, Jamaat leaders in confessional statement

Faisal Inam Kamol, vice president of Noakhali Swechhabak Dal arrested over his alleged ties to the anti-Hindu attacks in Noakhali’s Choumuhoni, has named 15 BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami leaders for inciting the violence in his confessional statement.

Police presented Faisal to the court of Senior Judicial Magistrate Sayeedeen Naahi on Monday in a Digital Security Act case where the judge recorded his statement, said Superintendent of Police Md Shahidul Islam.

“Faisal Inam Kamol named 15 leaders from the BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami, including Barkatullah Bulu, vice president of BNP National Executive Committee, as the inciters of the communal violence,” he said.

On Oct 13, Hindu temples were attacked and vandalised in Cumilla amid Durga Puja, over an incident where a copy of the Quran was “dishonoured” at a Hindu place of worship.

Anti-Hindu violence then spread to Chandpur, Chattogram, Noakhali, Feni and Rangpur where the minority community’s houses, businesses and places of worship were attacked.

On Oct 15, the last day of Durga Puja, the assailants attacked, vandalised and set fire on the places of worship and homes of Hindus in Noakhali’s Choumuhani. A person died from cardiac arrest during the attacks while police recovered another body from a pond the next day.

Police arrested as many as 200 people in 26 cases filed over the Noakhali attacks. Among them, police arrested 11 BNP and Jamaat leaders on Sunday. They were arrested in a Digital Security Act case filed with Begumganj Police Station.