Two bloggers were arrested early Wednesday on charge of posting "derogatory comments" about Islam and Prophet Muhammad (sm) on Facebook.
Partha Das Pappu, 20, and his cousin Bijoy Chandra, 21, of Kathlipara in the upazila, were arrested from Bairagibazar in Bishwanath upazila. Officer-in-charge of Bishwanath Police Station Abul Kalam Azad said after on a tip-off, the two bloggers were arrested by a team of police from the area in the upazila early Wednesday. The cousins recently made derogatory comments about Islam and the Prophet on Facebook, which triggered a tense situation in the area, added the OC. The arrests took place in the wake of protests by Hefazat-e-Islam, a Chittagong-based Islamist platform, that demands capital punishment of "atheist" bloggers who share material online which "defame" Islam. So far, four other bloggers have been arrested, one of whom, Asif Mohiuddin, had been attacked earlier in the year. In February, blogger Rajib Ahmed Haidar was hacked to death allegedly for posting anti-Islamic material online.
Thursday, March 27, 2025
