Elements inciting communal violence against Hindus in Bangladesh plead guilty

Mandal's colleague delivered a provocative speech over the loudspeakers of the mosques

Shaikat Mandal posted provocative post against Hindus to increase followers on Facebook

Dhaka: A key suspect and his accomplice who spread communal violence against the Hindu minority community in Bangladesh by posting hateful posts against Hindus on social media and inciting the religious sentiments of Muslims confessed during the court hearing, a court official said on Sunday.

The suspect, identified as Shaikat Mandal, had confessed before a magistrate on Sunday that he had posted a post on his Facebook page during Durga Puja on October 17, which led to communal violence in Rangpur and Pirganj sub-districts.

Mandal's colleague, Raibul Islam, a 36-year-old cleric, has been charged by police with arson and robbery. Shaikat Mandal and Raibul Islam had confessed before Rangpur Senior Judicial Magistrate Delwar Hossain about their role in the communal violence against Hindus, a court official told reporters.

The two accused were nabbed in a police raid at Ghazipur on Friday. Police had registered an offense against him under the Digital Security Act. Mandal is a philosophy student at Carmichael College in Rangpur and was sacked from the student wing of the Awami League after his arrest.

Mandalay had posted a hateful post against Hindus on his Facebook page with malicious intent to increase the number of his followers, a website called BDNude24.com quoted an official of the Rapid Action Force as saying. Mandal's ally Islam provoked the sentiments of Muslims by making announcements over loudspeakers after Friday prayers when a large number of Muslims came to pray in mosques, the official added.