Hate attacks spread to Teknaf in Bangladesh

Hate attacks spread to Teknaf Mon, Oct 1st, 2012 12:49 am BdST

Cox's Bazar, Sept 30 (bdnew24.com—The spate of hate attacks by religious bigots continued as houses of Buddhists and Hindus in Teknaf were ransacked and torched on Sunday evening. The police and witnesses said around a thousand people marched down to Laturikhola remote hill area in a procession and attacked five houses there. The mob carried out the attack in protest against a Facebook posting allegedly defaming the holy Quran. Earlier, houses and temples of the Buddhist community in Cox's Bazar's Ramu and Ukhia upazilas came under assault. As the law enforcers fired 15 rounds from their guns to control the situation, seven people were hit by bullets. The local union council chairman, police personnel and journalists were also injured during the violence. Religious fanatics had torched and vandalised a village of Buddhists in Cox's Bazaar's Ramu upazila early on Sunday in one of the worst religious attacks in Bangladesh. The police and witnesses said the assailants set fire to seven Buddhist temples, around 30 houses and shops were torched in the attacks that started at 11:30pm on Saturday and lasted until around 4am on Sunday. More than a hundred houses and shops were also reportedly attacked, vandalised and ransacked. . Another group of people attacked another Buddhist temple in Ukhia upazila on Sunday evening. Witnesses said several hundred people took out a procession from Hoaikang Lombabil area in Ukhia in protest against the Facebook posting. The procession was joined by many others when it reached Hoaikang station. Then the procession marched towards remote Laturikhola and torched houses of one Buddhist and four Hindu families. Hoaikang Police Outpost Sub-Inspector Bakhtiar Ahmed told bdnews24.com that a police team has reached the scene on information and opened fire to tame the mob. "Angered further by the police action, the mob barricaded Teknaf-Cox's Bazar road. Hundreds of vehicles were stranded on the two sides of the barricade. Around 20 people, including a union council chairman, three police constables and journalists, were injured at that time," he said. Md Zahed, Md Jalal, Md Karim, 'Mustak', 'Putia', Md Hossain and Hassan Ali have been admitted to hospitalswith bullet wounds, SI Ahmed said. Teknaf Police Station Officer-in-Charge Mohamad Farhad told bdnews24.co on Sunday night that the situation was "under control". But local people said the area was still filled with fear and tension.  bdnews24.com/cor/cs/su/ssr/bd/2234h