Cumilla
PBI arrest two men on charge of killing two women in Cumilla
Police Bureau of Investigation have arrested two men from Surgapur area of Kotwali thana in Cumilla allegedly for killing two women, officials said on Tuesday.
The arrestees were identified as Abdullah Ansari alias Munna, 23, son of Md Sahidullah Bhuiyan of Daudkandi upazila of Cumilla and his associates Dwin Islam Dinu, 19, son of Mostafa of Durgapur village under Kotwali thana.
According to a media release of PBI, the men killed two women within a month for money and had a plan to kill two more people.
READ: Cricketer Nasir, Tamima’s marriage illegal: PBI
Earlier On October 20, Police recovered a woman’s body in a sack with injury marks on her body from Gopinathpur Sarkin of Cumilla Sadar on Dhaka-Chattogram Highway. On September 13, police recovered another woman’s body from Dhaka-Chattogram Highway near Gopinathpur Sarkin in Feni.
Later, two cases were file at Cumilla Sadar Police Station under Woman and Children Repression Prevention Act against some unidentified accused in this regard.
READ: Body recovered in trunk identified after 6 years, 1 arrested: PBI
During preliminary interrogation, the duo confessed to their crime. They lured women with offer of love posing as vehicle mechanics or bakers. They later raped the two women before killing them.
The two accused were sent to court where they gave confessional statements, said the release.
4 killed in Cumilla road crashes
Four people were killed and another was injured in separate road accidents in Monohorgonj and Sadar upazilas of Cumilla on Tuesday.
The deceased were identified Ruhal Amin of Sakchail village in Manoharganj upazila, his wife Selina Akhter, college student Maymuna Akhter, of the same area and microbus driver Liton Mia of Nabinagar upazila of Brahmanbaria.
Read: Minor boy killed in city road crash
A Dhaka-bound bus hit an auto-rickshaw while overtaking another bus on Cumilla-Noakhali regional highway in Monohorgonj upazila around 11 am, leaving three auto-rickshaw passengers dead on spot.
Injured auto-rickshaw driver Khokon Mia is undergoing treatment at Cumilla Medical College and Hospital.
Earlier in the morning, a newspaper-carrying microbus collided with a truck on Dhaka-Chattogram highway at Kalakochua in Burichang upazila, leaving microbus driver Liton Mia dead on the spot.
Read: Two killed in Cumilla road crash
Mainamati Highway police OC Belal Uddin Jahangir and Lalmai outpost in-charge Masudur Rahman said the bodies were sent to Cumilla Medical College and Hospital morgue for autopsy.
Cumilla communal violence: Another case filed
Another case was filed on Tuesday over Cumilla communal violence triggered by alleged desecration of the Holy Quran at a Hindu temple.
The case was filed by Puja Rani, wife of Dilip Das (62) who died from injuries he suffered when troublemakers attacked Rajeshwari Kali Mandir in Manoharpur of the district on October 13.
Inspector Komol Krishna Dhor of Kotwali Police Station, where the case was filed, told UNB that 50-60 unidentified people were named in the case.
Meanwhile, Superintendent of Police(Cumilla) Khan Muhammad Rezwan said that the Criminal Investigation Department is keeping watch over several more people in another case filed over triggering communal violence by hurting religious sentiments.
Read: Iqbal, the prime suspect in Bangladesh communal violence brought to Cumilla
“Soon, we will arrest several others over the incident,” he added.
Meanwhile, Cumilla police continued to quiz Iqbal Hossain, who reportedly placed the Holy Quran at a Puja mandap at Nauar Digir Par of Cumilla.
The SP said that though Iqbal confessed to his role in placing the Quran, he was yet to disclose the names of the masterminds.
He said three others, arrested in connection with the violence, are also being interrogated.
Earlier, the case filed over the Quran desecration in a puja mandap of Cumilla was handed over to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID).
Read: Cumilla desecration suspect, 3 others remanded in 7-day police custody
Police arrested Iqbal from Cox’s Bazar district on Thursday night after identifying him by scanning the footage of closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras.
Three others were arrested from different parts of the country over the matter.
They are Faisal and Hafez Humayun, the two khadems of Darogabari shrine, and Ekram.A local court on Saturday put them on a seven-day remand in the case.
Names of puja violence instigators to be disclosed soon: Home Minister
Home Minister Asaduzzman Khan on Tuesday said the names of those who fuelled the violence at puja mandaps in different parts of the country will be made public soon.
The minister said this at ‘BSRF Dialogue’ organized by Bangladesh Secretariat Reporters Forum at the secretariat.
“Those who’ve been arrested in Rangpur and Noakhali vandalism cases have disclosed their (instigators) names in their confessional statements given under section 164 of the penal code,” he said.
Read: Communal violence: Citizens demand exemplary punishment for perpetrators
“So far, 10 cases have been filed over the vandalism triggered following the desecration of Holy Quran in Cumilla, and 18 people have been arrested for being directly involved in the criminal acts. Confessional statements of the arrestees are being recorded, and we’ll disclose the names after being hundred percent sure,” the minister added.
Growing vegetable export revives Cumilla farmers’ hopes
The vegetable growers of Cumilla had always worried about their produce for lack of marketing and storage facilities, but now there has been a surprising reverse in their fate.
It all began with when they started exporting vegetables to the Middle East and Europe with the help of a government marketing centre.
Huge vegetables are now exported from Nimsar Bazar in Cumilla, the largest wholesale vegetable market of the country, said farmers.
Read: Railway launches luggage van to transport vegetables
These vegetables are collected from 400 marginal farmers who formed 20 associations with the help of the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE).
The export volume of the chemical-free vegetables keeps rising, bringing back smiles to the farmers’ faces.
According to the Agricultural Products Procurement and Marketing Centre located at Nimsar Bazar, seven tonnes of vegetables are exported from the district every month on average while it goes up to 10 tonnes during winter.
Vegetables like arum lobe, bottle gourd, pumpkin, cucumber, snake bean, bitter gourd, luffa gourd, malabar spinach, red spinach and eggplant are exported to the Middle East and European countries.
Sajeeb Molla, an official at Agricultural Products Procurement and Marketing Centre, Cumilla said 4,620 kgs of arum lobe were exported to the UK and Italy, 1,015 kgs of bottle gourd to Italy, 220 kgs of cucumber to the UK, 220 kgs of pumpkin to Italy in September.
According to the DAE, some 21,090 hectares of land were brought under vegetable cultivation and some 4,72,374 metric tonnes of vegetables have been produced in the district this year.
Only 1.5 lakh metric tonnes of vegetables are needed for the district to meet the local demand while several hundred tonnes of vegetables are supplied to Dhaka, Chattogram, Noakhali, Feni, Laxmipur and Chandpur districts, said DAE officials.
Read: Kurigram farmers turning to vegetable cultivation
Cumilla desecration suspect, 3 others remanded in 7-day police custody
A local court on Saturday remanded prime suspect Iqbal Hossain and three others in seven-day police custody in connection with a case filed over the alleged desecration of the holy Quran in Cumilla.
Senior Judicial Magistrate Mithila Zahan Nipa sent the four accused to seven-day police custody, rejecting investigating officer Mafizul Islam's prayer for a 10-day remand for custodial interrogation and further investigation in the case.
The three other accused in the case have been identified as Faisal and Hafez Humayun, the two khadims of Darogabari shrine, and Ekram.
READ: Cumilla violence: 1 injured die in DMCH
Police arrested Iqbal, who allegedly kept the holy Quran at a Durga Puja venue in Cumilla, from Cox’s Bazar district on Thursday night after identifying him by scanning the footage of closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras.
The three others were arrested from different parts of the country.
Iqbal's alleged act drew accusations of desecrating the holy book hurled at the Hindu community and triggered communal tension and violence across the country.
Iqbal is believed to have placed the holy Quran inside Nanuar Dighi Par puja mandap in Cumilla city in the early hours of October 13, which led to attacks on Durga Puja venues across the country recently.
Cops filed a case in this connection at the Kotwali police station the following day.
Violence against houses and businesses of the Hindu community followed in several districts, including Chandpur, Noakhali, Chattogram and Rangpur, leaving at least seven people dead and many injured. Of the dead, five were Muslim rioters who died in police firing.
Iqbal was most likely instructed to keep the Quran at the mandap by others to stoke communal tensions, according to Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan.
"Everything was done in a planned way. The man, who had kept the Quran at the temple, might have done it as per others' instruction… there might be provocation behind it. We'll be able to know the motive after his arrest," the home minister had said.
He had said after examining the CCTV footage of the surrounding areas, it was ascertained that the man who kept the holy Quran at the Cumilla temple took it from a mosque.
READ: Iqbal, the prime suspect in Bangladesh communal violence, brought to Cumilla
"The man had been to Mazar mosque thrice that night. It was clear from the CCTV footage that the man took the Quran from the mosque to keep it at the temple."
Cumilla violence: 1 injured die in DMCH
A person who sustained injuries during the attack in Cumilla’s puja mandap, died on Thursday night while undergoing treatment in Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH).
The deceased was identified as Dilip Das, 62, father of actress Adhora Priya and resident of Cumilla’s Gangchar area.
He died around 11.45 pm while on life support at the hospital.
It was learnt that he was seriously injured after being hit with a brick on his head in front of Rajarajeshwari Kalibari puja mandap on October 13.
Read:None of those involved in Comilla incident to be spared
Later he was taken to Dhaka.
Achinta Das Titu, General Secretary of Cumilla Mahanagar Puja Committee, said the incident was tragic. Those involved in it must be brought to book, he said.
However, Cumilla District Additional Superintendent of Police (Crime) M Tanvir Hossain said, he heard about the death of Dilip Das.
Iqbal, the prime suspect in Bangladesh communal violence, brought to Cumilla
Iqbal Hossain, the man arrested from Cox’s Bazar last night for allegedly keeping the holy Quran at a Durga Puja venue, has been brought to Cumilla.
”Iqbal was brought to the Police Lines here around 12 noon on Friday," additional superintendent of Cumilla Police SM Tanvir Ahmed told UNB.
Police Thursday night held Iqbal Hossain, who was identified earlier as the one who kept a copy of the Quran at a Durga Puja venue in Cumilla, drawing accusations of desecrating the holy book hurled at the Hindu community and triggering communal tension and violence across the country.
"He was nabbed from the Cox's Bazar sea beach around 10.30pm," Rafiqul Islam, Cox's Bazar additional superintendent of police, told UNB. "Cumilla police will confirm if he is the key suspect Iqbal," he added.
Read: Man suspected of being Cumilla's Iqbal held from Cox's Bazar
Police identified Iqbal, the prime suspect of the Cumilla puja venue incident, Wednesday after scrutinising the footage of closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras.
He is believed to have placed the holy Quran inside Nanuar Dighi Par puja mandap in Cumilla city in the early hours of October 13, which led to attacks on Durga Puja venues across the country recently.
Also, violence against houses and businesses of the Hindu community followed in several districts, including Chandpur, Noakhali, Chattogram and Rangpur, leaving at least seven people dead and many injured. Of the dead, five were Muslim rioters who died in police firing.
Iqbal was most likely instructed to keep the Quran at the mandap by others to stoke communal tensions, according to Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan.
"Everything was done in a planned way. The man, who had kept the Quran at the temple, might have done it as per others' instruction… there might be provocation behind it. We'll be able to know the motive after his arrest," the home minister said.
He said after examining the CCTV footage of the surrounding areas, it was ascertained that the man who kept the holy Quran at the Cumilla temple took it from a mosque.
"The man had been to Mazar mosque thrice that night. It was clear from the CCTV footage that the man took the Quran from the mosque to keep it at the temple," Asaduzzaman added.
Cumilla pottery: Heritage on the verge of extinction
For generations, many families in Muradnagar of Cumilla have pursued pottery as a profession.Pottery is basically the practice of making pots, dishes, and other articles of fired clay. One of the earliest human interventions, almost every region with a history of human settlement has its own history of pottery.
In the lands now comprising Bangladesh, the art of pottery is said to date back to Harappan times. But in terms of actual evidence, the excavation of Mahasthangarh turned up earthenware items dating back to 300 BC - almost two-and-a-half millennia old!
Also read: Cooling their way to solvency: Gaibandha villages earn their keep with hand fans
Today, most of the pottery villages are located in Dhamrai, just outside Dhaka. Cumilla too is not far behind.
Pots and pans, showpieces, sculptures, toys and many household decoratives made by Cumilla potters tend to be aesthetically pleasing. Merchants from Dhaka and other parts of the country visit Cumila to buy their items in bulk and sell them in the city markets. Although the pottery tradition has long roots in this part of the country, the profession is gradually heading towards becoming obsolete, with the onslaught of time and modernity.
Man suspected of being Cumilla's Iqbal held from Cox's Bazar
Police Thursday night held a man suspecting him to be Iqbal Hossain, who was identified earlier as the one who kept a copy of the Quran at a Durga Puja venue in Cumilla, drawing accusations of desecrating the Quran hurled at the Hindu community and triggering communal tension and violence across the country.
"He was detained from the Cox's Bazar sea beach at around 10:30pm and was sent to Cumilla right away," Rafiqul Islam, Cox's Bazar additional superintendent of police, told UNB.
"Cumilla police will confirm if the detainee is the key suspect Iqbal," he added.
Police identified Iqbal, the prime suspect of the Cumilla puja venue incident, Wednesday after scrutinising the closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage.
Read: Provocation perhaps there behind Cumilla incident: Home Minister
He is believed to have placed the holy Quran inside Nanuar Dighi Par puja mandap in Cumilla city in the early hours of October 13, which led to attacks on Durga Puja venues across the country recently.