Dhaka, Nov 27 (UNI) At least six people were arrested in Bangladesh’s second largest city Chattogram on Wednesday in connection with the murder of a lawyer during clashes between followers of arrested Hindu monk Chinmoy Krishna Das Brahmachari and the police, said the country’s Chief Adviser’s office.
The Chattogram Metropolitan Police carried out the arrests suspecting them of involvement in the murder of lawyer Saiful Islam Alif, who was fatally hacked on Tuesday during the violence that broke out after Chinmoy Krishna was denied bail.
The six were identified through video footage, said the press wing of the Chief Advicer’s office, adding that the CMP has also detained 21 people for vandalism and assaults on police, The Daily Star reported.
Earlier, CMP said it detained 30 individuals overnight from across Chattogram over Tuesday’s incidents.The members of the joint forces carried out overnight drives across Chattogram city over the lawyer’s murder during the violence that also left at least 10 people injured.
The unrest began shortly before midday when a court sent former International Society of Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) leader Chinmoy Krishna Das Brahmachari Chinmoy to jail, rejecting his bail plea in a sedition case.
There were also reports of arson and a mob even hindered the firefighters’ efforts to put out the blaze near the Laldighi area, said Md Ali, senior station officer of Nandan Kanan Fire Service.
With the assistance of law enforcement, three firefighting units finally managed to control the blaze that gutted two corrugated tin-roofed houses and two shops. No casualties were reported.
Chinmoy Krishna was arrested on Monday from Dhaka airport as he was about to take a flight to Chittagong on sedition charges, sparking protests in various parts of Bangladesh.Chinmoy Krishna, who has actively campaigned for minority rights in Bangladesh, is also the spokesperson of the Bangladesh Sammilit Sanatan Jagran Jote.
Protesting against his arrest and subsequent denial of bail, India in a statement has expressed “deep concern” while also pointing to the “multiple attacks on Hindus and other minorities by extremist elements in Bangladesh”.
“There are several documented cases of arson and looting of minorities’ homes and business establishments, as well as theft and vandalism and desecration of deities and temples,” the statement read.
