Cumilla Attack: 2 Jubo League activists held

Some 400 to 500 unnamed people have been accused of attacking a procession of Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council in Cumilla city on Friday.

The attackers were carrying banners of Jubo League and Chhatra League, according to the statement of a case filed by Taposh Kumar Bakshi, general secretary of the council's Cumilla district unit.

Taposh lodged the case with Kotwali Model Police Station on Sunday night

Police early yesterday arrested two youths -- Mohsin Ahmed Shipon, 35, and Nur Mohammad Sawpon, 40, -- from the city's Town Hall area in connection with the attack, said Ahmed Sanjur Morshed, officer-in-charge of the police station.

A local court sent the two to jail in the afternoon after they were produced before it, the OC added.

The duo are activists of Cumilla city Jubo League, Abdullah Al Mahmud Shahid, convener of the unit, told The Daily Star.

According to the case statement, leaders and activists of the unity council held a rally in the city's Raninbazar area around 10:00am on Friday as part of the council's programme protesting Munshiganj Mayor Faisal Biplab's "communal" comments against local MP Mrinal Kanti Das, Cumilla-6 lawmaker AKM Bahauddin Bahar's "disrespectful" remarks about Durga Puja, attack on poet Radhapada Roy in Kurigram, and vandalism of temples at different places in the country.

The council leaders and members were heading towards Pubali Square in Kandirpar with a protest procession around 11:30am. When they reached near Nazrul Avenue area, the accused attacked the procession with iron rod, sticks, brickbats and stones, according to the case statement.

The attackers mercilessly beat up the processionists, leaving four people injured. They also looted cash and mobile phones from at least two of the injured, it added.

"The accused have unleashed a reign of terror and have been threatening leaders and activists of the unity council," said the case statement.

The council leaders had alleged that the attackers were supporters of the lawmaker Bahauddin. The MP, however, denied it. On October 4, Bahauddin during a meeting on the upcoming Durga Puja at the Cumilla deputy commissioner's office spoke on consumption of alcohol at the puja mandaps and making mandaps free from alcohol.

Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Councilon October 8 issued a statement condemning the lawmaker's remarks.