Nearly 300 held in Bangladesh for attacks on Buddhists
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A Bangladeshi Buddhist Monk, left, reacts as he looks at burned books at a Buddhist temple which was torched in an overnight weekend attack in Ramu in the coastal district of Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, on Monday, Oct 1 2012. -- PHOTO: AP
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A Bangladeshi policeman guards a Buddhist temple which was torched in an overnight weekend attack in Ramu in the coastal district of Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, on Monday, Oct 1, 2012. -- PHOTO: AP
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Bangladeshi Buddhist women stand near a Buddhist temple which was torched in an overnight weekend attack in Ramu in the coastal district of Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, on Monday, Oct 1, 2012. -- PHOTO: AP
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Women sit in front of their burned home after Muslims attacked and set fire to Buddhist households in Cox's Bazar on Oct 1, 2012. -- PHOTO: REUTERS
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The remains of burned religious books at a Buddhist temple which was torched in an overnight weekend attack in Ramu in the coastal district of Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, on Monday, Oct 1, 2012. -- PHOTO: AP
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A Buddhist woman sits in front of her burnt house after Muslims attacked Cox's Bazar on Oct 1, 2012. -- PHOTO: REUTERS
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Damaged statues at a Buddhist temple that was torched in Ramu in the coastal district of Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, on Sunday, Sept 30, 2012. -- PHOTO: AP
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Smoke rises from the remains of a Buddhist temple that was torched in Ramu in the coastal district of Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, on Sunday, Sept 30, 2012. -- PHOTO: AP
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A Bangladeshi Buddhist Monk stands at a Buddhist temple which was torched in an overnight weekend attack in Ramu in the coastal district of Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, on Monday, Oct 1, 2012. -- PHOTO: AP
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Damaged Buddhist artefacts are lined up at a torched Buddhist temple in Ramu, some 350 kilometres (216 miles) from the capital Dhaka on Oct 1, 2012. -- PHOTO: AFP
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A Bangladeshi Buddhist Monk looks at the remains at a Buddhist temple which was torched in an overnight weekend attack in Ramu in the coastal district of Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, on Monday, Oct 1, 2012. -- PHOTO: AP
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Bangladesh army soldiers arrive after Buddhist temples were torched in an overnight weekend attack in Ramu in the coastal district of Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, on Monday, Oct 1, 2012. -- PHOTO: AP
A Bangladeshi Buddhist Monk, left, reacts as he looks at burned books at a Buddhist temple which was torched in an overnight weekend attack in Ramu in the coastal district of Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, on Monday, Oct 1 2012. -- PHOTO: AP
A Bangladeshi policeman guards a Buddhist temple which was torched in an overnight weekend attack in Ramu in the coastal district of Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, on Monday, Oct 1, 2012. -- PHOTO: AP
Bangladeshi Buddhist women stand near a Buddhist temple which was torched in an overnight weekend attack in Ramu in the coastal district of Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, on Monday, Oct 1, 2012. -- PHOTO: AP
Women sit in front of their burned home after Muslims attacked and set fire to Buddhist households in Cox's Bazar on Oct 1, 2012. -- PHOTO: REUTERS
The remains of burned religious books at a Buddhist temple which was torched in an overnight weekend attack in Ramu in the coastal district of Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, on Monday, Oct 1, 2012. -- PHOTO: AP
A Buddhist woman sits in front of her burnt house after Muslims attacked Cox's Bazar on Oct 1, 2012. -- PHOTO: REUTERS
Damaged statues at a Buddhist temple that was torched in Ramu in the coastal district of Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, on Sunday, Sept 30, 2012. -- PHOTO: AP
Smoke rises from the remains of a Buddhist temple that was torched in Ramu in the coastal district of Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, on Sunday, Sept 30, 2012. -- PHOTO: AP
A Bangladeshi Buddhist Monk stands at a Buddhist temple which was torched in an overnight weekend attack in Ramu in the coastal district of Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, on Monday, Oct 1, 2012. -- PHOTO: AP
Damaged Buddhist artefacts are lined up at a torched Buddhist temple in Ramu, some 350 kilometres (216 miles) from the capital Dhaka on Oct 1, 2012. -- PHOTO: AFP
A Bangladeshi Buddhist Monk looks at the remains at a Buddhist temple which was torched in an overnight weekend attack in Ramu in the coastal district of Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, on Monday, Oct 1, 2012. -- PHOTO: AP
Bangladesh army soldiers arrive after Buddhist temples were torched in an overnight weekend attack in Ramu in the coastal district of Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, on Monday, Oct 1, 2012. -- PHOTO: AP
DHAKA (AFP) - Bangladesh police said on Tuesday they had arrested nearly 300 people after Muslim mobs attacked temples and houses in what Buddhist leaders described as the worst violence against the community since independence.
A total of 162 people were arrested in Cox's Bazaar, which bore the brunt of the attacks on Saturday and Sunday nights, according to Mr Khorshed Alam, a senior police officer in the south-eastern district.
A further 76 were arrested in neighbouring Chittagong and 36 in Bandarban district, local police officials said.
Mr Alam said that a final tally of the damage caused by the mobs in Cox's Bazaar had found 11 temples were torched and seven were damaged or ransacked in the district.
