Online Desk  :   Hassan Arif, adviser to the Ministry of Local Govt, Rural Development and Cooperatives, has said that a vested quarter is engaged in hatching conspiracy from outside the country to destroy harmony in the people of Chattogram Hill Tracts. “The recent violence in the hilly areas, including Rangamati is nothing but an outcome of the external conspiracy,” he said while talking to reporters in Rangamati on Saturday.

Earlier in the day, he held a meeting with several local political leaders, representatives from various ethnic groups, and members of law enforcement agencies at the Rangamati Cantonment. A commission will be formed to identify the true culprits responsible for the unrest and bring them to justice, as all parties seek peace and harmony among themselves, he said. A total of four people have died in violent clashes between indigenous and Bengali communities that began in Dighinala Upazila of Khagrachhari district and spread to Rangamati from Thursday night into Friday. Around 70 people from both sides were injured and shops and homes were vandalised and set on fire during the clashes. To control the situation, the district administration imposed Section 144 in Rangamati and Khagrachhari districts on Friday.