At least 20 homes belonging to Hindus were set on fire and 66 homes vandalised in a village about 255 km from capital city Dhaka on Sunday, 18 October, over an alleged blasphemous social media post, news agency PTI reported on Monday, 18 October.
This comes just days after an alleged incident of the desecration of the Quran at a Durga Puja pavilion in Cumilla, on Wednesday, 13 October. Attacks were reported across several Hindu temples in the following days in Bangladesh, which has been witnessing communal unrest.
The arson attack happened late on Sunday night, 17 October, at the village, which is allegedly a colony of fishermen.
The district's superintendent of police Mohammad Qamruzzaman said that the police ruhsed to the colony after a rumour circulated that a "young Hindu man from the village had dishonoured religion" in a post on Facebook.
As the police were guarding the man's house, the attackers set fire to the nearby homes.
According to the Fire Service Control Room report, "29 residential houses, two kitchens, two barns, and 20 haystacks belonging to 15 different people were torched in Majhipara".
The fire service was informed of the fire at 8:45 pm and managed to put it out by 4:10 am. According to PTI, there were no immediate reports of casualties.
Multiple Cases of Communal Unrest
The country's Minister of Home Affairs Asaduzzaman Khan on Sunday had said that the attacks were 'pre-planned' and had aimed to disturb communal harmony.
On Thursday, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina had vowed that the perpetrators of communal violence against the Hindu minority community would be punished.
A mob of 200 people had allegedly attacked an ISKCON temple in Bangladesh's Noakhali on Friday, 15 October.
On Wednesday, 13 October, three people were killed and over fifty injured after clashes broke out between a mob and the police in Bangladesh's Chandpur district following reports of the alleged desecration of the Quran at a Durga Puja pandal in Cumilla.
(With inputs from PTI)
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