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DHAKA: Bangladesh police have arrested the main accused – an imam of a mosque – in the Dec 18 lynching of Hindu garment factory worker Dipu Chandra Das on blasphemy allegations in Mymensingh, reports Ahsan Tasnim. Yasin Arafat (25), who was arrested from Sarulia under Dhaka’s Demra police station area, had “supervised the attack on Dipu”. He had incited the mob and led it to the garment factory were Dipu worked, police said Wednesday. Dipu was forced to resign, pushed out of his workplace and handed over to the mob that beat him to death.Bangladesh asks 3 of 5 missions in India to keep visa sections closed for now The Muhammed Yunus-led interim govt on Thursday said it had asked Bangladesh’s three key diplomatic missions in India to keep their visa sections closed for the “time being” because of “security reasons”. With this, Dhaka, which did not elaborate on the reasons, has sought to further strain the tense relations between the two neighbours. Though foreign affairs adviser Md Touhid Hossain did not mention the names of the missions, a diplomatic source said these were the Bangladesh high commission in New Delhi, deputy high commissi-on in Kolkata and Bangladesh assistant high commission in Agartala. There are Bangladesh missions stationed in Mumbai and Chennai, too. India, however, has kept its diplomatic facilities open, including its high commission in Dhaka and five assistant high commissions, to process visa applications – especially of those seeking medical treatment – despite massive protests near these establishments after anti-India radical leader Sharif Osman Hadi was shot on Dec 12 in the Bangladesh capital and died six days later. “We have asked our three missions to keep their visa sections closed for the time being. It’s a security issue,” Hossain said while responding to a question at a press briefing in the ministry of foreign affairs. Asked about Bangladesh’s “potential interest” in procuring the JF-17 Thunder fighter aircraft from Pakistan, the foreign adviser said, “I can’t talk about this today. Talks are underway. You will know once things are finalised.” Pakistan in a statement on Wednesday had claimed that “detailed discussions were held on the potential procurement of JF-17 Thunder aircraft” between the two nations in Islamabad.
