Staff Reporter :
At least 80 members of ISKCON have been arrested over Tuesday’s attacks on joint forces in Chattogram’s Hazari Lane.
They were arrested last night, joint forces’ Taskforce-8 Spokesperson Lt Colonel Ferdous Ahmed said at a press briefing in the port city’s Dampara area on Wednesday afternoon.
Earlier on Wednesday, a trader of the lane uploaded a Facebook post on hardliner Hindus’ organisation ISKCON. Outraged by it, followers of the ISKCON, mostly traders, staged demonstrations demanding justice of the accused, vandalised his shop and kept him confined to the shop.
Being informed, army and police personnel rushed to the spot and tried to rein in the protesters who allegedly attacked the law enforcers and threw acid and brickbats, leaving seven police and five army men injured. Besides, a policeman came under acid attack, he said, adding that the injured cops were hospitalized.
Regarding the incident, Kazi Md Tarek Aziz, additional deputy commissioner (media) of the Chittagong Metropolitan Police, said: “In the attack, seven police officers, including Assistant Commissioner of Police (Kotwali) Mahfuzur Rahman, were injured. One officer suffered minor acid burns.”
“They were sent to the hospital for treatment,” he added.
Later, a joint force operation resulted in 80 individuals being detained.
Police said the authorities are verifying the detainees, innocent persons will be released and perpetrators will be brought to justice.
