Scores arrested for attacks on Hindus in Bangladesh

Bangladesh police have stepped up security and arrested scores of men days after a violent mob vandalised dozens of Hindu temples and homes over alleged blasphemy, a police official has said.

A police official, insisting on anonymity, told Xinhua news agency on Sunday that "53 persons have so far been arrested in connection with the attacks" and security has been beefed up in the violence-ridden areas of the Brahmanbaria district, 109 km northeast of Dhaka.

The situation now is completely under control, he said.

On October 30, an angry mob ransacked at least 15 temples and attacked more than a hundred properties of Hindus after a Facebook post appeared allegedly mocking one of Islam's holiest sites Kaaba in Mecca, Saudi Arabia.

A local Hindu, Rasraj Das, was said to have posted an edited photo on social media of a Hindu deity inside the black cube-shaped Kaaba.

The post allegedly showed a photo of Hindu God Shiva placed inside the Kaaba.

Das has been arrested over the incident.

Bangladesh police's counter-terrorism unit has begun probing the origin of the post that sparked the communal violence.

Three more separate investigations have also been launched by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's government.

A senior police official has been suspended for negligence of duty in handling the initial situation.

Additional security measures were put in place amid media reports that several Hindu houses and temples were also torched on early Friday, the police official said.

--IANS

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