A female devotee has initiated legal proceedings following a pre-planned assault, vandalism, looting, and outraging of modesty at the Shah Ali Baghdadi (Rh.) shrine located in Mirpur, Dhaka. The complainant has formally held members and affiliates of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami and its wing organisations responsible for the disturbance. Following the registration of the case, the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) successfully apprehended two individuals, including a primary suspect named in the First Information Report (FIR). The law enforcement agency confirmed that the arrests were executed on Saturday during targeted operations conducted across separate areas of the capital.
The two detained suspects have been officially identified as Sheikh Md. Sajjadul Haque Russel, aged 38, and Md. Arman Dewan, aged 29. Among the apprehended individuals, Russel is formally documented as the number six accused party listed within the primary police complaint.
Confirming the law enforcement operation, the Deputy Commissioner of the DMP Mirpur Division, Mostak Sarkar, stated that a regular devotee of the shrine filed the criminal lawsuit at the Shah Ali Police Station immediately after the incident. Deputy Commissioner Sarkar verified that the sixth named suspect alongside an additional associate had been taken into custody. He further emphasized that police operations are actively continuing to locate and apprehend the remaining perpetrators involved in the unrest.
Sequence of Events and Case Profile
The underlying incident transpired late on Thursday night. Following the disruption, the forty-year-old victim, identified as Mst. Resmi Begum, formally lodged the criminal complaint on Saturday. The legal document explicitly names nine specific individuals as primary defendants, while additionally implicating between 100 to 150 unidentified individuals for their active participation in the unlawful assembly.
The nine primary individuals explicitly named as defendants within the official police report are:
Md. Ali Akbar, aged 48
Md. Bappa, aged 35
Md. Babu, aged 45
Md. Kawsar, aged 26
Azam, aged 40
Sheikh Md. Russel, aged 38 (Apprehended)
Kazi Johir, aged 52
Md. Mizan, aged 38
Kazi Ponir, aged 50
Within the formal narrative of the FIR, Resmi Begum stated that she has been a regular visitor to the Shah Ali Baghdadi (Rh.) shrine for approximately 17 years to perform religious visitations (Ziyarat). She also consistently assists the administration with the coordination of various religious festivals (Urs) and vow-making (Manat) ceremonies conducted on the premises.
Vandalism, Looting, and Physical Assault
Describing the precise sequence of the attack, the FIR details that the incident commenced at approximately 12:05 am on Thursday night, whilst numerous devotees were actively engaged in prayers and traditional ceremonies. The named defendants, accompanied by a mob of 100 to 150 unidentified persons, entered through the main gates of the shrine in a pre-planned manner, armed with wooden sticks and rods, whilst chanting religious slogans. The crowd immediately launched an unprovoked assault on the worshippers, inflicting severe physical injuries across multiple victims.
The complainant formally accused the members of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami and its associate bodies of systematically dismantling religious items, including the shrine’s ceremonial sweets (Shirni), sacred red fabrics, and designated candle-holders. The FIR notes that these actions intentionally desecrated the site and caused severe distress to the religious sentiments of the community.
Furthermore, the plaintiff stated that when she attempted to intervene to halt the destruction, the attackers assaulted her, inflicting severe wounds on her body. The perpetrators outragaged her modesty by tearing at her clothing and struck her on the head with a stick with the clear intent to cause fatal injury.
The mob also targeted the shrine’s communal kitchen, destroying the large cooking pots and stoves used to prepare food for devotees, resulting in an estimated property damage of 30,000 Taka. In addition to the structural destruction, the attackers looted 6,000 Taka directly from the complainant and forcibly took approximately 90,000 Taka from other devotees present at the scene. The situation was eventually brought under control by the combined efforts of on-site security personnel and surrounding worshippers, prompting the assailants to retreat whilst