The home of a Hindu man was set on fire in Bangladesh last afternoon over an allegedly derogatory Facebook post about the Prophet Muhammad.
The police have arrested Akash Saha, and his father Ashok Shaha, in connection with the incident, police officer Haran Chandra told India Today TV.
“Akash Saha made an insulting comment on Hazrat Muhammad in a Facebook post yesterday (July 14). Some agitated people started protesting in front of his house this afternoon. At one stage, they set fire to a room in Akash Saha’s house,” the inspector said.
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Several police units and senior officers rushed to the village in Lohagora upazila of Narail district after receiving information about the incident and detained Akash Saha and his father, he added.
“Akash Saha and his father are being questioned. Legal action will be taken subject to investigation,” the officer said.
The police, local officers and political leaders went to the spot and tried to defuse the situation. Senior police officials also visited the area later last night.
“We are continuously working with the administration to prevent any untoward situation,” Dighalia Union Parishad Chairman Syed Borhan Uddin said.
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Since Akash was on the run, his father was kept in custody to find out his whereabouts, another official told India Today TV.
Additional forces were deployed to the area to prevent further violence.
Earlier on June 18, a college principal in Narail, also a Hindu, was forced to wear a garland of shoes in the presence of the local police after some students and locals accused him of supporting a student who posted a picture of Nupur Sharma on Facebook. Nupur Sharma, caught in the eye of an international controversy over her remarks on the Prophet on a TV channel, was subsequently suspended by the BJP.
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