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Authorities slapped ban on gatherings for an indefinite period after religious fanatics rampaged through a village of Buddhists in Cox's Bazaar's Ramu Upazila in the early hours of Sunday apparently triggered by a Facebook posting allegedly defaming the Quran.

One of the worst religious attacks in Bangladesh, the mayhem started at around 11:30pm on Saturday and ended around 4am on Sunday, witnesses said. The extremists set fire to at least seven Buddhist temples and nearly 30 homes and shops and looted and damaged more than a hundred others.

Cox's Bazaar's Acting Deputy Commissioner Jashim Uddin said that the district administration has slapped CrPC's Section 144 – which restricts gatherings of more than four people – for an indefinite period in the area since Sunday morning in an attempt to contain the situation.

"A large number of Police, BGB, RAB personnel have been deployed in the area."

Home Minister Mohiuddin Khan Alamgir and Industries Minister Dilip Barua visited the site of the hate attack, officials of the local administration said.

Local people said followers of an Islamist party led by several leaders took out a procession around 10pm on Saturday alleging that a photo was uploaded on the Facebook to defame the holy book.

At a subsequent rally, they claimed that a youth by the name of Uttam Barua had pasted the purportedly offensive photo in the social networking website and demanded his arrest.

Another militant procession was taken out that marched down towards the Barua Parha around 11:30pm and some youths from the procession set some homes of the Buddhists on fire.

From then on, 15 homes, three temples including 'Saada Ching' and 'Laal Ching' were burned to the ground, Dipak Barua, a local resident, said.

Several houses and Mithhachharhi Bonbihar, some five kilometres from Ramu Sadar Upazila, were also set on fire around 3:30am, said General Secretary of Ramu Upazila Juba League Nitish Barua.

Gias Uddin Ziku, Office Secretary of Cox's Bazaar district unit of Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal and Chairman of Jhilangja Union, said he dispersed Jamaat-e-Islami activists who had gathered around localities of ethnic minorities. He also said he had informed the police of the incident.

A local journalist, who was hiding with family in the neighbourhood that came under attack, told bdnews24.com the Cheranghata Barakyang Temple close to his home was set alight. He said the flames died out around 2:45am.

Ramu Upazila officials said that during the night long attack 'Saada Ching' and 'Laal Ching', Ramu Maitree Bihar, Sina Bihar, Jadiparha Bouddha Bihar, Bimukti Bidarshan Babna Centre and Mithhachharhi Bonbihar were torched, ransacked and looted. Around 30 residences were also set alight in these areas.

Cox's Bazaar district's Superintendent of Police Selim Mohammed Jahangir acknowledged the violence in the Buddhist-dominated locality. He said around 4am situation in the Ramu district headquarters was under control but in areas on the fringe, tension remained.

Paramilitary BGB personnel have been called out to restore order in the affected areas, local residents said.

bdnews24.com/corr/rn/sk/1159h