How attacks carried out
The grounds for the attack on the Hindus in Brahmanbaria were prepared in a remote bazaar on the bank of the Titas river on October 29, some 13km from Nasirnagar upazila headquarters where the mayhem took place the next day.
Who pulled the trigger? How was the ground created? And who were involved in the initial hours?
It was Jahangir Alam, 30, owner of Al-Amin Cyber Point and Studio at Horinber Bazar, who played an active role in inciting the locals against Rasraj Das, after a post demeaning Islam appeared on the Hindu fisherman's Facebook wall.
Jahangir also gave provocative speeches about the post.
The Daily Star learnt this after talking with more than a dozen eyewitnesses, both Hindu and Muslim, and victims. Two of the witnesses happened to be at Horinber Bazar where a group of charged youth gathered “to punish” Rasraj for the post.
These two sources in particular, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retribution, know Jahangir and several other attackers personally.
Jahangir Alam, now in jail for his alleged role, was once known as a BNP-Jamaat supporter until Dewan Atikur Rahman Akhi became chairman of Haripur union in April. Akhi ran in the election on AL ticket and made Jahangir his right hand man after his victory.
“When I went near Jahangir's shop around 1:00pm [on October 29], he was telling a group of people that Rasraj committed a big crime for which he should be severely punished,” said one source.
“He was showing them something from his mobile. He was actually transferring a photo using SHAREit [a mobile app]. And he kept saying that Rasraj insulted Islam and Muslims and for which he deserves to be punished,” the source added.
The crowd kept growing and so was their anger.
The Facebook post in question appeared on Rasraj's wall the previous day, on October 28. It's a doctored photo of the holy Kaba with a photo of Hindu god Shiva in the background.
On the morning of October 29, another post on his Facebook page said he did not upload the photo, but apologised for it anyway. Police investigation later found the post was not uploaded from Rasraj's phone.
From the Horinber Bazar, however, six youths started for the nearby Horinber village to look for Rasraj.
“I know the six youths. A couple of them are my close friends. I followed them to see what happens,” said the source.
The Daily Star is not identifying the six as their versions were not available.
The previous night (October 28), Rasraj went fishing in the Titas. When he came home the next morning, his mother and several Hindu neighbours asked him what he had done to enrage their Muslim neighbours. Fear gripped him.
So when the angry youths entered Horinber village, Rasraj hid himself in a neighbour's home.
“But the group soon spotted him. One of them called Jahangir Alam and said they found Rasraj,” said the other source.
Within minutes, Jahangir appeared on the scene with a group of about 40 and started slapping and punching Rasraj. Several others joined him.
When Rasraj's friend Ashutosh called Faruk Mia, known as Sayedul's man, to inform him what was going on, Jahangir got furious.
“We don't know anybody, we will try Rasraj for his crime,” one of the two sources quoted him as saying.
The group, led by Jahangir, then took Rasraj to Horinber Bazar around 2:30pm. Police soon arrived and took him away.
As people from nearby areas, including from madrasas, gathered at the Bazar, Jahangir and his men started for the upazila sadar on several CNG-run auto-rickshaws.
Before leaving, he made several hundred copies of the Facebook post from his shop and distributed those among the people.
He also asked the employee of the shop, who is a madrasa student, to spread Rasraj's “misdeed” through a loudspeaker. This was done by hiring a loudspeaker from Abu Bakar Miking at the Bazar, sources said.
“After reaching Nasirnagar sadar they set fire to many tyres to draw attention of the people, distributed copies of the Facebook post and gave instigating speeches against Rasraj and his community,” said one source.
They also took photos of the burning tyres and the demonstration, which they showed to Akhi and other locals on return to Horinber Bazar, said the sources, who also heard someone spreading the news through the loudspeaker of a nearby mosque.
Among those leading the day's demonstrations was Rashed, who contested the union parishad polls as an independent candidate. He joined the protest with his supporters from Nurha village. Many of them were carrying sticks and iron rods.
Rashed could not be contacted for comments.
The demonstrators asked the shopkeepers to shut their outlets and join the following day's (October 30) rally at Nasirnagar to demand the death penalty for Rasraj, locals said.
By this time, Horinber village was gripped by panic and most Hindus crossed the Titas at night and stayed in char areas. Some elderly men and women who stayed back were attacked by the next day.
After that, hundreds of people from Horipur and adjoining areas went to Nasirnagar sadar union by pickups, auto-rickshaws and other transports.
The vehicles were hired by Akhi, who was assigned by local MP Obaidul Muktadir Chowdhury and district AL General Secretary AL Mamun to create a trouble involving lawmaker Sayedul Huq and his Hindu voters, sources in the Awami League said.
While Muktadir and Mamun denied the claim, Akhi's version was not available as he is on the run.
In his confessional statement before a magistrate in Brahmanbaria yesterday, Jahangir said Akhi indeed hired the vehicles, Iqbal Hossain, additional police superintendent, told The Daily Star last night.
“The plan was made somewhere else but its execution began from Horinber Bazar,” said an AL lawmaker in Brahmanbaria.
According to the MP, people like Akhi and Jahangir alone cannot pull off an attack of this scale.
“The plan came from their patrons and they [Akhi and Jahangir] were just used to implement it,” said an AL leader in Nasirnagar.
Like Akhi, Nasirnagar upazila unit AL General Secretary AKM Moniruzzaman was given the responsibility to mobilise people. He assigned his men in different villages to ensure a large crowd at the October 30 rally, sources claimed.
The Daily Star called him several times for comments, but he did not pick up the calls.
Carrying sticks, rods, sharp weapons and copies of the Facebook post, hundreds of people from madrasas, educational institutions, shops and villages attended the two rallies -- one organised by Hefajat-e Islam-backed Tawhidi Janata at Ashutosh Pilot High School and the other by Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat at College Road intersection.
They burnt effigies of Rasraj and chanted slogans, demanding his execution for insulting Islam.
Following the hate speeches at the rallies, mobs carried out the synchronised attack on Hindu areas, vandalising over 100 houses and 17 temples.