Man thought to be Cumilla's Iqbal detained in Cox's Bazar: Police
Police have detained a man suspecting him to be Iqbal Hossain, who reportedly kept Holy Quran in a Cumilla puja mandap.
"He was nabbed from the sea beach at Sugandha point at 10:15pm. Cumilla police have been informed as well," Cox's Bazar Police Superintendent Hasanuzzaman Kallol told The Business Standard.
Cumilla SP Faruque Ahmed said, "Our team will bring the detainee to Cumilla. We will inform details about him after verifying his identity."
Iqbal, a reported drug addict believed to have placed the holy Quran at a puja mandap in Cumilla that instigated a spate of communal violence, was caught in at least four closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras – one of which was installed to guard fish farming pond.
As police reveal CCTV footage of Iqbal suspiciously roaming around the makeshift mandap at midnight.
Earlier in the day, Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal said there had been a nationwide manhunt to capture Iqbal, and his apprehension will unravel everything.
Communal tensions swept Cumilla as police recovered a copy of the Quran from a puja mandap in the Nanuar Dighi area on 13 October.
Perpetrators vandalised the mandap over the reported besmirching of the holy scripture, and violence on Hindu communities subsequently erupted in several districts, including Chandpur, Noakhali, Chattogram and Rangpur, leaving at least six dead and many injured. Zealots vandalised Hindu temples and set houses and businesses of the religious community on fire.