Mob damages Hindu homes in B’desh, Yunus orders repair

At least a dozen homes belonging to the members of the Hindu community were damaged by a mob over the weekend in northwestern Bangladesh, according to officials and media reports.

The office of the interim government’s Chief Adviser, Muhammad Yunus, on Tuesday said orders had been issued to repair the houses damaged in the violence in Gangachara upazila of Rangpur.

The violence erupted on Saturday after a 17-year-old Hindu youth allegedly made derogatory remarks against the Prophet on social media.

The police have arrested the teenager, a third-semester student at a private polytechnic institute. Citing Gangachara police station officer-in-charge Al Emran, a newspaper said the police received a complaint that a boy had posted offensive content on Facebook.

“Once the allegations were found to be true, he was detained around 8.30 pm on Saturday and brought to the police station,” he said, adding that he was sent to a juvenile rehabilitation centre following a court order.

Following the incident, enraged locals carried out attacks and vandalised 12 homes on Saturday night and again on Sunday.