6 more arrested over Lalmonirhat mob lynching

Six more people have been arrested in the three cases filed over a mob lynching incident in Burimari union of Lalmonirhat's Patgram, where a man was lynched and immolated over rumours of Quran desecration.

Police and Detective Branch (DB) of police arrested made the arrests, confirmed Patgram police station Officer-in-Charge (OC) Sumon Kumar Mohant on Tuesday afternoon.

A total of 16 people have been arrested till now, in connection with the murder.

“The arrestees are being taken to the Lalmonirhat Judicial Magistrate Court 3 at the moment,” DB OC Md Omar Faruk said.

“Out of the six, four people were arrested for assault on police and two others for vandalism of Burimari Union Parishad,” he said.

“The court on Tuesday granted a three-day remand to interrogate the five accused who were arrested in the first phase. Another appeal has been made to take the other five accused, arrested in the second phase, in remand for five days as well,” the DB OC also said.

Also Read - Lalmonirhat mob lynching instigator remains absconding

“We will also appeal for a five-day remand for the rest of the six who were arrested in the third phase,” Faruk added.

On October 29, Abu Yunus Md Shahidunnabi Jewel, 50, was beaten to death by an angry mob on the Burimari Union Parishad premises in Patgram upazila of Lalmonirhat.

The mob then took his body some 300 metres away to the Prothom Bashkol area on Lalmonirhat-Burimari highway and set it on fire, fuelled with dried materials, tyres, and petrol.

Over a thousand people were present during the incident, including people from outside Lalmonirhat, as rumours of Quran desecration spread, according to Patgram Upazila Nirbahi Officer Kamrun Nahar.

On October 31, the deceased’s cousin Saiful Alam filed a case naming 43 persons and hundreds unknown, Burimari Union Parishad Chairman Abu Syed Newaz Nishat filed another case naming 22 persons and hundreds unknown while Patgram police station Sub Inspector (SI) Md Shahjahan filed yet another case.

Two probe committees - one by the district administration and another by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) - were formed to investigate the incident.

During the ongoing investigation by the NHRC, its director of investigation Al Mahmud Faizul Kabir, on Sunday said they have not yet found any proof of Quran desecration.