Three arrested for attack on Bauls in Bangladesh

Dhaka, July 18 (IANS) Bangladesh police on Monday arrested three people for an attack on elderly Baul singers in a village in Chuadanga district.

Three Baul singers, including two women, were attacked with iron rods by miscreants early on Sunday, said the police.

The accused were identified as Ariful Islam, 22, Shahed Ali, 30 and Jamat Ali, 40, bdnews24.com reported.

One of the three victims, Bulu Begum told reporters that seven-to-eight men barged into the Akhara (place where Bauls stay) and attacked them with iron rods.

"Bauls from different areas come to this Akhara. We also went there," she said, adding that they could not identify the attackers.

The Akhara’s owner Shahidul Islam filed a case against seven-to-eight unidentified men with the police on Sunday night, said local police Officer-in-Charge Humayaun Kabir, adding that three persons were arrested on the same night.

The victims have been identified as Abdur Rahim, 65, his wife Bulu Begum, 50, and a 45-year-old woman Rashida Khatun.

The couple hails from Kushtia district in western Bangladesh, while the woman is from Jhenaidah, in the south-western part of the country. They had come to the village to join a congregation of Bauls.

The three elderly Sufi singers were critically injured and were being treated at a local hospital.

Besides, another Baul, namely Box Mandal, remained missing after the attack.

Witnesses said a gang of about 12 miscreants equipped with indigenous weapons swooped on the sleeping Bauls and attacked them indiscriminately.

The miscreants fled the scene when the villagers rushed there after hearing the screams of the victims.