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Thirty people were injured, five of them seriously, when a group of armed attackers led by a local BNP leader allegedly set afire 20 houses belonging to minority Hindus in Bangladesh on the first day of the New Year.
The minority Hindu houses at Lalpur village of the northern Natore district were set alight in broad daylight yesterday by assailants led by Moslemuddin, the local leader of the ruling BNP, mass circulated vernacular newspaper 'The Daily Janakantha' reported today.
The attackers, numbering about 50, were armed, another vernacular daily 'Bhorer Kagoj' said.
At least 30 people were injured in the incident and of them five were hospitalised in serious condition. Four people of the affected houses remained missing following the incident, the reports said, adding the attackers also indulged in looting and destroying property.
Quoting the victims, Janakantha said the attack centered around the possession of a pond and some land. A case regarding a dispute about property is pending in the court.
The victims, who are mostly farmers engaged in making jaggery, were forced to stop work for three days prior to the attack. All the equipment needed for jaggery-making were destroyed in the attack, the reports said.
Minorities, including Hindus, Buddhists and Christians, constitute between 11 and 12 per cent of Bangladesh's population of 140-million. Hindus are nearly 90 per cent of the minorities.
The incident came less than two months after 11 members of a Hindu family, including a four-day-old infant, were burnt alive in southeastern Chittagong district.
Meanwhile, the Government of Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia, has given taka 4 lakhs to the kin of the victims in Chittagong district for rehabilitation, 'The Daily Star' said.
State Minister for Environment and Forest Jafrul Islam Chowdhury, also the local MP, handed over the money to members of the family, the report said.
There is not much progress on the
arrest of the criminals behind the gruesome incident which has been criticised
by Opposition parties, human rights organisations and leaders of civil
society.
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