Bangladesh’s largest Eid congregation has held prayers amid heavy security at the Eidgah at Kishoreganj’s Sholakia.
The 191st congregation at the historic site was held at 9am on Wednesday by Mufti Hibzur Rahman.
After the Eid prayers, the congregation prayed for peace and prosperity in Bangladesh.
Leaders of different political parties, and government officials, including the district’s administration and police chiefs, attended the congregations alongside thousands of devotees.
Heightened security measures were taken in and around the ground. Alongside police, BGB, APBN, RAB and Ansar personnel were deployed in the area in light of the 2016 terror attack.
Plainclothes personnel from various detective and intelligence agencies patrolled the crowd. The entrances to the grounds were monitored by security cameras and eight watch towers.
Every devotee attempting to enter the grounds was searched by metal detectors. Almost all roads in the town were closed this morning for security reasons.
Despite these obstacles, the grounds were filled to capacity before the start of prayers and the crowd spilled over onto the streets and the courtyards of nearby houses.
The first Eid congregation at these grounds was held in 1828. Maulana Sayeed Ahmed, of Bowlai Shaheb Bari in Kishoreganj, was the first Imam to conduct the prayers, which was attended by nearly 125,000 devotees.