Iqbal was possibly instigated to place the Quran at temple: Home Minister

Iqbal Hossain who allegedly left the Holy Quran at Nanua Dighi Puja mandap in Cumilla, was instigated by someone, suspected Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal.

"We are trying to trace Iqbal with highest priority and all will be clear after he is apprehended," he said while talking to the reporters after a meeting at the secretariat on Thursday.

The minister also said that a CCTV footage showed Iqbal entering a Majar-adjacent mosque at around 3am.

"He went to the mosque three times and talked with two Khadems there.", Kamal added.

"Our team of experts team, after long inspections, concluded that Iqbal picked up the Holy Quran from that mosque and left it in the puja Mandap. After placing the Quran he left with a weapon of the idol on his shoulder."

"The whole thing appears to be planned," the minister stated, adding that investigators do not believe that Iqbal did the act without getting any instruction or instigation.

The minister also said that Iqbal is not using any cellphone and suspected that people behind motivating Iqbal into the act might be helping him to hide.

Earlier, CCTV footage showed that a man holding a weapon, which was a part of the Hindu God Hanuman's idol at the mandap, was wandering in Nanua Dighi area of Cumilla during the Durga Puja celebrations.

The police briefed the media that the man in the footage, has been identified as Iqbal Hossain, who was was reportedly a drug addict.

Iqbal is the son of Nur Ahmed Alam, a fish trader, of Laskarpukur area of ​​Muradpur union in Cumilla. Iqbal, the eldest among five siblings, quit school after the fifth grade.