Dhaka, Oct 2: Some 235 people have been arrested in three Bangladesh districts over last week's religious violence in which agitated mobs attacked Buddhist temples, monasteries and homes following an alleged desecration of the Holy Quran, police said Tuesday.
Mobs, comprising thousands of Muslims, went on the rampage in a Buddhist-majority village - Merunloa - following the alleged desecration of the Holy Quran by a Buddhist man of the village on Facebook, the social networking site.
According to police, all the arrested people have been charged with torching and damaging dozens of houses, temples and monasteries of Buddhists and attempting to spoil communal harmony in the districts - Cox's Bazar, Chittagong and Bandarban, Xinhua reported.
”We've arrested a total of 169 people in connection with the violent incidents in Cox's Bazaar,” said Selim Md. Jahangir, the district's police chief.
He said 16 Buddhist temples and monasteries were fully or partially burnt and damaged in Ramu sub-district of Cox's Bazar during the frenzy which started Saturday night.
