India on Thursday urged the Bangladesh government to take strong measures to ensure the safety of Hindus in the country and act against extremist elements who triggered the latest round of violence against the minority community in Chittagong earlier this week.

The Hazari area of the port city of Chittagong witnessed an unprecedented targeting of Hindus on Tuesday night when the army and the police, along with an angry mob, attacked business establishments owned by Hindus. There were allegations on social media that the army was seen destroying CCTV cameras in some gold jewellery shops.

Asked for a response on the reports of violence targeting Hindus in Chittagong, external affairs ministry spokesman Randhir Jaiswal provided India’s assessment of this specific situation. “We have observed that there have been attacks on the Hindu community in Chittagong. Their properties have been looted, their business establishments have been looted. These happened following incendiary posts on social media targeting Hindu religious organisations.

“It is understood that there are extremist elements who are behind such posts and such criminal activities. This is bound to create further tensions in the community. We yet again urge the Government of Bangladesh to take strong measures to ensure the safety of Hindus and to take action against extremist elements.’’

While India was circumspect at first after Sheikh Hasina fled the country to comment extensively on the reports of attacks on minorities — primarily because of difficulty in ascertaining if they were being targeted specifically for their faith or they became collateral damage owing to their perceived preference for the Awami League — concern for the situation has mounted as the attacks on Hindus has persisted.