‘Insult to prophet’: OC criticised for statement after arresting father, son

A police officer has drawn flak for his statement on the arrest of a barber and his son over allegations of “hurting religious sentiment.”

His statement went viral on social media.

On Sunday, a group of people beat up Paresh Chandra Sheel, 69, and his son Bishnu Chandra Sheel, 35, accusing them of “insulting Prophet Muhammad (SM)” as they were working at the barber shop at the Hanif Pagla intersection in Lalmonirhat.

Later, police rescued them and brought them to the police station. The mob then surrounded the police station. Under the circumstances, Nurnabi, chief of the police station, spoke to the public. That statement has gone viral on Facebook since Tuesday.

Human rights organisation Ain O Salis Kendra described the beating of the father and son, who are part of the Hindu community, as “mob violence” and demanded justice.

The family of the victims said the incident was instigated by a group of people “intentionally” after they paid less than the fee after a haircut. The spoke of feeling insecure under the circumstances.

Imam Md Abdul Aziz of Natamari Al Hera Jaane Masjid has filed a case naming Paresh and Bishnu over hurting religious sentiment.

According to locals, Paresh and Bishnu were working at their barber shop around 2pm on Sunday. Then a group of people came and surrounded them, accusing them of insulting the prophet. The mob then vandalised the shop. They attacked Paresh. When his son came forward to defend him, they beat him as well.

The viral video of the incident showed a group of people beating the father and son inside the shop.

When informed, police and army personnel rescued them and took to the police station.

The frenzied mob followed them and chanted slogans demanding justice against the father-son duo. Additional police and army personnel were deployed to control the situation.

Under such circumstances, OC Nurnabi gave a statement before the agitated public.

In a video, the police officer is seen telling the public: “Those of you gathered here are Muslims and so am I, the OC of this police station. My heart if burning now over the incident thy occurred. Look, I have tears welling up on my eyes. This is Bangladesh, and I’ll file such a case against them that they will either be hanged to death or receive a lifetime in prison.”

After the video went viral on Tuesday, many people raised questions criticising a law enforcing agent for making such a statement.

However, OC Nurnabi told the media that his intention was only to control the situation.

Local CPB leader Advocate Rafiqul Islam Apu said, “As a member of the law enforcing agency, it is unfortunate that he made such a comment. It is not expected for one to speak in such a way without an investigation.”

Whoever the “mob instigators” are should receive exemplary punishment, lawyer Rafiqul said.

Although the father and son were beaten on Sunday, the family claims the incident was initiated on Friday.

A young man came to the barber shop for a haircut and had an altercation with Paresh and Bishnu over his bill. He threatened to “look into it” and, two days later, brought a group of people to the shop with the intention of beating the barbers, the family said.

Bishnu’s wife Dipti Rani Sheel shared the complaint with bdnews24.com. She said she met her husband and father-in-law in jail and Paresh shared the information with her.

Dipti said, “My husband and father-in-law are innocent. On Friday, they had a little argument with a customer over the payment for a haircut. Two days later, they made a religious issue out of it and attacked us.”

On the other hand, plaintiff Abdul Aziz said, “Those two people insulted Prophet Muhammad (SM) and his wives. Later, they admitted their mistakes in front of Muslim devotees. Now the family is trying to divert the incident.”

Rashedul Islam, a trader at Lalmonirhat Goshala Bazar, said: “There should be an impartial investigation into the situation. Everyone should also remember that no innocent person should be punished.”