Bangladesh ex-minister jailed for hurting religious sentiments

Dhaka: A court in Bangladesh capital Tuesday sent a sacked minister to jail for hurting Muslims' religious sentiments.

Bangladeshs former posts, telecommunications and information technology minister Abdul Latif Siddique was presented before Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Atiqur Rahman's court around 2.30 p.m. after he surrendered at a police station in Dhaka.

After a short hearing of the case filed by a lawyer, the magistrate ordered police to lock up Latif Siddique in jail, Xinhua reported.

Apart from this case, Siddiqui faces 21 cases against him filed in 18 districts for hurting Muslims' religious sentiments. There were multiple arrest warrants against him.

He returned to the country two days ago from India. He was removed Oct 16 from the cabinet for his derogatory comments.

Siddique's comments on the annual Islamic pilgrimage to Makkah, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's son Sajeeb Wazed Joy, Tablighi Jamaat (an Islamic religious movement) and expatriate Bangladeshis in New York have sparked huge protests in Bangladesh and in the US.

A group of non-political Islamic scholars threatened to call a countrywide strike Thursday if the sacked minister was not arrested by Wednesday for his derogatory comments.