BGB redeployed to Madhukhali amid protests over mob lynching after temple fire

Protests over mob lynching erupted after the withdrawal of personnel

Locals protesting against lynching of the two brothers blocked the Dhaka-Khulna Highway and clashed with police on Tuesday.

Authorities have deployed Border Guard Bangladesh to Faridpur’s Madhukhali Upazila to keep law and order following protests over the lynching of two brothers by a mob angered by a fire at a temple.

Four platoons of BGB started working in Madhukhali and Faridpur town “considering the situation” on the ground, the district’s Deputy Commissioner Quamrul Ahsan Talukder said on Wednesday.

After the Kali temple at Hindu-dominated Panchapalli caught fire on Thursday evening, agitated locals attacked construction workers who were staying at a school next to the temple to build a toilet at the institution.

The locals accused them of setting fire to the temple.

Two workers – Ashraful, 21, and his brother Ashadul, 15, both identified with single names – died in the incident. Five other workers were hospitalised.

The situation remained calm after the authorities deployed BGB to the area, but after the withdrawal of the border guards on Monday, locals protesting against lynching of the two brothers blocked the Dhaka-Khulna Highway and clashed with police on Tuesday.

Several people, including policemen, were injured in the clashes.

Religious Affairs Minister Faridul Haque Khan visited the family of the two brothers on Saturday and vowed steps to ensure justice for them.

On Wednesday, Livestock and Fisheries Minister Md Abdur Rahman and Railways Minister Md Zillul Hakim also met the family.

Rahman promised to give the father of the deceased a battery-run rickshaw van and help the family repay loans taken from NGOs.