Police had sensed a possible attack on the Shia Muslims living in several villages in Bogra’s Shibganj upazila after the Hussaini Dalan attack and asked them to take special security measures.
Police officials told the Dhaka Tribune on Sunday that they had repeatedly asked the Shias to arrange security at their mosques, especially Al Mostafa Jame Mosque in Haripur village where three youths launched a gun attack on November 26.
However, the Shia community, which has been living in harmony with others for decades, thought they had no enemy. They were proud of the religious harmony that prevailed in the area since long despite having differences with the Sunnis in terms of rituals.
Muezzin Mozammel Hossain, 70, died and three other devotees were injured in the attack carried out by three unidentified youths. Officials of the Police Bureau of Investigation have collected blood and other evidence from the spot. They also found eight bullet shells of a 0.22-bore revolver.
Law enforcers and Shia community leaders suspect that members of the banned militant group Jama’atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) or some radical Islamists in Qawmi madrasas might have conducted the attack on Thursday.
The police are now interrogating three suspects in the case. One of the trio is a former JMB organiser while another is the principal of a local Qawmi madrasa.
One of the three remanded on Saturday, Anwar Hossain, 48, is a former JMB member. Police said he had been arrested earlier in 2010 and came out two years later on bail.
Meanwhile, police on Sunday formed a five-strong probe body led by Additional Superintendent of Police Arifur Rahman Mandal. Sources said two members of the Special Branch also went to Bogra to assist in the case.
The shooting incident took place one month after the bomb attack at Hussaini Dalan that left two people dead and several others injured. Detectives have found the involvement of JMB men in the attack. Police said they had alerted the Shia leaders about a possible attack.
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Islamic State claimed responsibility for the Bogra attack, but the government brushed aside the claim, saying local militants backed by Jamaat-e-Islami conducted the gun attack.
Shia leaders in Bogra told the Dhaka Tribune that they had taken some security measures after the Hussaini Dalan attack but they relaxed the measures considering that the local Shias had a strong bonding with the Sunnis of the area.
“Police warned us about a possible attack. They arranged tight security measures for Ashura and perhaps that is why there was no attack at that time,” Mohammad Amir Hamza, nephew of injured Imam Shahinur Rahman, said.
Officer-in-Charge of Shibganj police Ahsan Habib said he had conveyed a security warning to the local Shia people centring Ashura.
According to a police source, officers sat with the Shia leaders several times at the Imambara, near Al Mostafa mosque.
They had instructed the Shia leaders to keep two or three persons outside the mosque during the prayers. They were also asked to arrange lights around the mosque all night.
Mosque committee Secretary Mozaffar Hossain told the Dhaka Tribune that they had been warned by the police, “But I could not believe that someone could attack us as there is a strong religious harmony among the locals.”
According to locals, some 20-30 youths were deployed at several points of the Shia villages during Ashura. They kept vigil in the area for several more days.
“The criminals attacked us as soon as we relaxed security,” Hamza said.
Local Shia and Sunni Muslims think that the attack was launched by some radicals who wanted to destroy the non-communal relationship between the two groups. Haider Ali, a local Sunni, said they would not stop saying prayers at the Shia mosque.
The Imam of a local Sunni mosque said they had never asked people not to say prayers at Al Mostafa mosque. “All the mosques are for praying to Allah. Those who launched the attack will never be forgiven by the Allah,” he said.