CHITTAGONG: District administration imposed section 144 at Hathazari in the district for an indefinite period amid mounting tensions among locals, reports BSS.
Deputy Commissioner of Chittagong Faiz Ahmed told reporters about the ban on any kind of public gathering.
Section 144 was imposed from 5 pm on Friday and will be in force till further order.
Primary and mass education minister Dr Afsarul Ameen and local lawmaker Anisul Islam Mahmud went to the area in the afternoon and was trying to calm the people.
The direct road communications between Chittagong- Rangamati - Khagrachari and Nazirhat remained closed as unruly mob blockaded different points in and around Nandirhat area.
Bdnews24.com adds: Authorities clamped Section 144 banning public gathering at Hathazari on Friday amid mounting tensions after several Hindu temples were vandalised there.
Local Muslims, allegedly instigated by Jamaat-e-Islami, went on the rampage in a temple in the compound of Loknath Sebasram at Nandirhat on Thursday evening.
They blockaded the Chittagong-Rangamati road on Friday morning after a mosque had allegedly been hurled with brick bats from a procession of the Sebasram Thursday morning.
Thousands of local people took to the Chittagong-Rangamati road blocking traffic from Nandirhat to Hathazari Sadar upazila around 11am. They said their Friday prayers on the road. The blockaders demanded arrest of those linked with hurling brick bats on the mosque.
Many of the people in the area said a quarter is provoking the incident and Zila Parishad administrator M A Salam pointed the finger at Jamaat-e-Islami and its student wing Islami Chhatra Shibir. But local Hindu leaders declined comment fearing reprisal.
Chittagong district deputy commissioner Faiz Ahmed told reporters about the ban on public gatherings through the imposition of Section 144.
"Police will take action if they see any gathering," he said. Zila Parishad administrator Salam said adequate police were not deployed in the area to tackle the situation after Thursday's incident. Salam, an Awami League leader, said Jamaat and Shibir leaders were fuelling the tension to destabilise the situation after Chittagong University was ordered shut on Wednesday following deaths of two Shibir men in clashes with activists of pro-government students.
Hathazari Thana BNP chief S M Fazlul Haque blamed the administration for the unpleasant events.
Witnesses said two groups engaged in an altercation while a procession of the Loknath Sebasram was passing a mosque. At one stage, the two groups scuffled, which eventually caused attacks on the temples. BSS, bdnews24.com
the Bangladesh Today
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment