Extremist Islamist group’s supporters attack 70-80 Hindu houses in Bangladesh: Police

Hundreds of supporters of an extremist Islamist group in Bangladesh attacked and vandalized 70-80 houses of Hindus in the Sylhet division of the country on Wednesday.

Hundreds of supporters of a hardline Islamist group in Bangladesh attacked and vandalised 70 to 80 houses of Hindus in the country’s northeastern Sylhet division following a social media post allegedly by a youth from the minority community, media reports said on Friday. The attack on a Hindu village by several thousand followers of Hefazat-e-Islam’s leader Mamunul Haque took place in Shalla upazila of Sunamganj district in Sylhet division on Wednesday, the Dhaka Tribune newspaper reported. Haque’s supporters from Kashipur, Nachni, Chandipur and some other Muslim-populated villages gathered in Noagaon village and attacked the homes of local Hindus with sticks and locally made weapons, vandalising 70-80 houses, the report quoted the police as saying.