At least four ethnic minority men were killed and scores were injured as a wave of sectarian violence swept the restive hill districts of Khagrachhari and Rangamati, sending hundreds of ethnic families on the run to save their life, leaving behind their houses and businesses going up in flames.

Three of the deceased were from Khagrachari and identified as Junan Chakma 20, Dhananjoy Chakma, 60, and Rubel Tripura, 30. The identity of the fourth victim from Rangamati could not be immediately confirmed by authorities.

Authorities in Rangamati and Khagrachari imposed section 144 barring public gathering in the towns on Friday afternoon amidst escalating tension as ethnic minorities and Bengalis faced off against each other, engaging in attacks and counter attacks, especially in Rangamati.

The fear of the situation descending into a communal riot gripped the hilly districts as the attacks saw Buddhist temples being targeted while loudspeakers in mosques were used to incite Bengali mobs.

A student-led platform of ethnic minorities called a 72-hour road and water way blockade to be imposed from today in the Chittagong Hill Tracts. The violence also triggered protests on Friday in Dhaka and elsewhere in the country, including in Jahangirnagar University, where students blocked the Dhaka-Aricha highway for half an hour.

Houses and shops of national minorities are set on fire during a clash between Bengalis and the minority people at Khagrachari sadar on Friday. — New Age photo

Chief adviser Mohammad Yunus in a message regretted the violence, urging all parties to remain calm and exercise restraints for the sake of restoring peace and harmony.

‘Everybody is living in fear. And many people may have been still in hiding out of fear for their lives,’ said Nirupa Dewan, an educationist currently living in Rangamati.

The Army sent teams patrolling the streets in Rangamati and Khagrachhari after section 144 was imposed. An eerie silence descended on the districts’ towns after the nightfall as patrol cars moved about flashing beacons and sounding alarm.

Groups of Bengali and ethnic minority youths who dominated the streets during the day retreated to the interiors of their neighborhoods.

The streets of Rangamati town turned into battle fields on Friday morning after clashes broke out after ethnic minorities brought out a procession in the town protesting at the Thursday violence in Khagrachhari. Ethnic minorities were busy defending their houses against the attacks by Bengalis, witnesses said.

At least 100 houses and business establishments, belonging to largely Buddhist ethnic minorities, were burned in an arson attack in Dighinala upazila of Khagrachhari on Thursday afternoon over the mob lynching of a Bengali the day before.

The police said that Mamu, the victim of the mob lynching, was accused in several criminal cases and was beaten to death reportedly for stealing a motorcycle.

Khagrachhari police officer-in-charge Abdul Baten Mridha said that the situation was highly tense over the last week over ethnic minorities and Bengalis confronting each other. He refused to go into details.

‘The situation is created in a planned way and being given a communal colour,’ said Rani Yan Yan, adviser to the Chakma Circle chief.

The communal force was waiting for a chance to strike, angered by ethnic minorities’ demand to establish democratic practices in the CHT ever since the autocratic regime of Sheikh Hasina was ousted on August 5, she explained.

Ethnic minorities recently placed demands to the interim government to fully implement the CHT accord, ensure their land rights and end the army rule in the region.

The Inter-Service Public Relations in a statement said that the violence in Khagrachhari was triggered by an attack of the main faction of the United People’s Democratic Front on the protest rally brought out over the death of Mamun on Thursday.

The UPDF also opened fire on a patrol team of the army in Swanirbhar area in Khagrachhari at 10:30pm on Thursday, leading to an exchange of fire that resulted in the three deaths in the district, said the ISPR statement.

The Friday violence in Rangamati was initiated by a group of 800–1,000 people who gathered in Rangamati in response to a call by the Parbatya Chattagram Jana Samhati Samiti-supported Pahari Chhatra Parishad and vandalised the Banrupa Bazar mosque, Agrani Bank and Janata Bank local branch offices, and set fire to shops, leading to clashes that injured some people, according to the statement.

The ongoing tension could lead to riots in the three hill districts, including Bandarban, the ISPR statement said, urging those in the leadership to help the law enforcing agencies to restore peace.

The chief adviser in his statement said that the government was earnestly working to end the problem in Rangamati and Khagrachhari. The statement urged people not to take the law in their hands and refrain from engaging in destructive activities. The statement promised a fair probe into the incident, and justice to the victims.

A government team comprising the home, CHT affairs and local government advisers is scheduled to visit the affected areas today, the statement said.

The advisers’ visit has been announced amidst an announcement on Friday of a 72-hour road and waterways blockade starting from 6:00am today.

A protest in Dhaka that blocked the Shahbah intersection for 15 minutes around Friday noon announced the blockade.

The UPDF in a statement on Friday condemned the violence and expressed solidarity with the blockade programme.

Students of Jahangirnagar University blocked the Dhaka-Aricha highway for half an hour, protesting at the violence in the CHT at 4:00pm on Friday.

Khagrachhari is home to over seven lakh people. The epicentre of the violence, Dighinala, is the largest upazila in the district where Buddhists account for 55 per cent of its population.

‘Not a single Buddhist in the entire upazila can be found in his or her home,’ said Bhikkhu Sunandapriya, general secretary, Bangladesh Buddhist Federation.

‘We don’t know their current status since they are beyond mobile network and internet coverage, perhaps hiding in the forests,’ he said.

The latest violence is a grim reminder of the June violence of 2017 when Bengalis set fire to six ethnic villages of Langadu in Rangamati, sending scores of families to the forests running for their lives.