A prime suspect and his accomplice have pleaded guilty to inciting recent violence against the minority Hindu community in Bangladesh and spreading communal hatred on social media. A court official gave this information. According to the official, Shaikt Mandal on Sunday admitted before a magistrate that his Facebook post was due to him during Durga Puja on October 17 in Peerganj sub-division.-Violence broke out in Rangpur in the district.
Mandal's accomplice Rabiul Islam (36) is a cleric and has been accused of arson and robbery. "Shaikat Mandal and his associate Rabiul Islam have accepted their role before senior judicial magistrate Delwar Hussain in (north-west) Rangpur," the official told the media.
The police arrested him from Ghazipur on Friday and registered a case under the Digital Security Act. Mandal is a philosophy student at Rangpur's Carmichael College and was expelled from the Student League, the student wing of the ruling Awami League, following his arrest.
A report in bdnews24.com quoted an officer of the Rapid Action Battalion as saying that he had uploaded objectionable content on Facebook to increase his number of followers. Media reports said at least seven people have so far confessed to their crime as part of the legal proceedings.
24,000 suspects have been charged and 683 arrested in cases related to the violence. More than 70 cases have been registered in this regard.
