The Police Headquarters (PHQ) in a statement today said that recent incidents of attacks and murders involving religious minorities were not communal in nature; rather most of these incidents occurred due to personal, financial, family feuds and general crimes.
The statement came in response to allegations raised by the Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council (BHBCUC) at a press conference on July 10 where it claimed that 27 minority people were killed between January and June this year and 2,442 communal attacks and incidents of violence took place across the country over the last 11 months.
In the statement the PHQ said police have thoroughly reviewed the 27 reported deaths and of these, 22 were registered as regular murder cases, while five were recorded as unnatural deaths. None were connected to any kind of communal violence, it said, adding that the underlying causes of the deaths included land disputes, financial transactions, robbery, terrorist attacks and family conflicts.
Among them, three people committed suicide and 11 deaths where bodies were recovered under various circumstances are under investigation, it said.
So far, 48 suspects have been arrested, 15 have surrendered and 18 have given confessional statements in these regards, the statement said. বিস্তারিত