by staff correspondent in Dhaka;

Police have arrested 10 people including a district unit leader of hardline Islamic group Hefazat-e-Islam Bangladesh for carrying out vandalism in the north-eastern Bangladeshi district of Brahmanbaria.

Rais Uddin, a senior officer of the district police, said the suspects were arrested in a special drive conducted to capture those carried out the destruction between March 26 and 28.

The local unit of Hefazat e Islam lead thousands of its activists to set fire a number of public offices, police station and railway stations beside blocking the major highway during a protest that the group organized against Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bangladesh visit.

The protests in many parts of the country killed at least 15 people, mostly in Brahmanbaria.

Modi visited Bangladesh for two days to join the golden jubilee celebration of Bangladesh’s independence.

Police launched a special drive in response to the destruction and arrested a number of senior leaders of the Islamic group for their alleged involvement in the mayhem.

Among those arrested on Monday was assistant publicity secretary of the Hefazat Jakaria Khan. He is also a teacher at Kandi Para Jamia Islamia Madrassa. Khan confessed that his group carried out the vandalism during the last month’s protest.

Brahmanbaria police so far arrested 369 from different parts of the districts as 56 criminal cases were filed in relation to the destructions.

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