'Provocation perhaps there behind Cumilla incident'

Perhaps there was a deliberate provocation behind Cumilla incident.

Dhaka, Oct 21 :   Perhaps there was a deliberate provocation behind keeping a copy of the Quran at a temple in Cumilla, said Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan on Thursday.

“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 after a meeting at the Bangladesh Secretariat.

“All the incidents (of communal violence) including that of Cumilla were carried out separately with a motive. There’s no panic among people now. Everything is under control,” he added.

He said after examining the CCTV footage of the surrounding area it has been 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,” he said.

Regarding the murder of Rohingya leader Mohib Ullah, Asaduzzaman Khan said, “We’ve arrested almost all the killers.  Soon their motives will be revealed to the media.”

He added that security at the Rohingya camps in Cox’s Bazar will be beefed up.

The home minister said drives to stop drug smuggling in the areas adjacent to the Rohingya camps have been intensified.

Besides, steps are being taken to control childbirth rate at the camps.

Steps to transfer 1 lakh Rohingyas to Bhasanchar will begin by December next, he added, reports UNB.