Detained man identified as Cumilla’s Iqbal: Police

Cumilla Superintendent of Police Faruk Ahmed on Friday said the man who was apprehended in Cox’s Bazar, has been identified as Iqbal Hossain of Cumilla.

Iqbal has already been brought to Cumilla from Cox’s Bazar and the law enforcers would interrogate him over the recent incident, the SP said.

The man is believed to have placed the holy Quran inside Nanua Dighir Par puja mandap in Cumilla city in the early hours of October 13, triggering sectarian tension and violence across the country.

Iqbal was detained from the Cox's Bazar sea beach around 10:30pm on Thursday, Cox's Bazar additional SP Rafiqul Islam told UNB.

Police identified Iqbal, the prime suspect of the Cumilla puja venue incident, Wednesday after scrutinising the closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage.

On Thursday, Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan said Iqbal was most likely instructed to keep the Quran at the mandap by others with a view to stoking sectarian tensions.

He said after examining the CCTV footage of the surrounding area it has been ascertained that the man who kept the Quran at the Cumilla temple took it from a mosque.