Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime Unit (CTTC) on Tuesday claimed they have identified the mastermind who incited the violence and vandalism during Hefazat-e-Islam's protest at Shapla Chattar on May 5, 2013.
CTTC unit Chief Monirul Islam disclosed the information at a press conference at the Police Media Centre, saying: “We have identified the mastermind behind the violence but are still working on identifying all the others who were involved in vandalism.”
“At least 40 cases have been filed in connection with the incident of that day, with 21 of them being filed by police alone.
“Since it was a huge group of people gathered at the square it took us sometime to comb through all the information and find the people who were involved in vandalism,” he added.
Hefazat-e-Islam is an Islamic coalition of more than 25,000 Qawmi madrasa across Bangladesh.
Hefazat was formed in January 2010, in opposition to plans to give women the same rights of inheritance as men.
After thousands of people flocked to Shabhag Square, demanding the death sentence for the perpetrators of crimes during the Liberation War, Hefazat burst onto the political scene in February following the killing of young blogger Rajib Haider and activist of the Shabhag movement accused of being an atheist.
The murdered blogger and his associates had launched the Shahbag campaign to demand the death penalty for a political leader convicted of war crimes committed in 1971.
Haider and other bloggers were subsequently accused by Islamists of being atheists who had written comments derogatory of Islam and the Prophet.
Hefazat served the governing Awami League a notice with a 13-point demand and gathered half a million supporters in Dhaka on 6 April, where the main slogan was "hang the atheist bloggers".
Thursday, June 04, 2026
