Dhaka, December 5 (NIA): Unidentified criminals vandalized two Hindu temples in Pabna and Netrakona last weekend apparently as part of a country-wide campaign attacking Hindu temples and Hindus’ houses in several parts of Bangladesh in the past two months.
Dhaka Tribune reports that the people of Mymensinghorohi village under Shingherbangla Union of Netrakona Sadar had found the doors of the Kali temple opened yesterday morning. Upon entering the temple they found smashed idols and furniture. Two of the idols – one of Kali and another of Shiva – were found about 600 feet away from the temple.
Sadar police Officer in Charge, Shahnur-e-Alam, said that police had visited the site and collected evidence. Netrakona Superintendent of Police Joydeb Chowdhury said: “ We are treating the case as a priority.”
In Pabna, a Kali temple was vandalized. Mohammad Moinuddin, Officer in Charge (Investigation) of Aminpur police, said that the miscreants had decapitated one idol, and smashed the hands and legs of another sometime in the night.
Devotees came to know about the matter when they went to the temple in the morning.
Unidentified criminals attacked a temple and three nearby Hindu houses in Malgram Panuapara area under Kaharol Upazila, Dinajpur early Saturday, creating panic in the Hindu community. They smashed two idols and threw the head of another idol into a pond. They also vandalized and torched three houses in the adjacent area.
Additional policemen were deployed in the area to avoid further untoward incidents.
Local lawmaker Manoranjan Shill Gopal, Kaharol UNO Aslam Mollah and Birganj circle ASP Sujan Sarker visited the area. Police collected evidence from the crime scene, but have not been able to arrest anyone.
A group of miscreants led by the son of a Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) leader of nearby Bochaganj Upazila attacked and torched 10 Hindu houses at Harijan Palli.
Locals caught the mastermind, known as “Jewel”, and handed him over to the police. He was put on a one-day remand Sunday.
Visiting the Kaharol temple, Manoranjan Shill Gopal said that the attack had been perpetrated in a planned manner.
Upazila Puja Udjapan Committee President Gopesh Chandra condemned the series of attacks on religious minorities across the country and demanded that the government ensure security to the vulnerable people.
Police on Sunday produced Jewel of Bochaganj before the First Class Cognizance Court in Dinajpur seeking a five-day remand in a case filed over the attack on Harijan Palli Hindus.
OC Habibul Alam said that “Jewel” has not given details of the incident yet, as he was injured when the people who caught him beat him up.
Son of Ward 7 unit BNP President Aiyub Ali, Jewel faces 16 criminal cases against him. His father is known in the area as a mugger.
They claimed that Jewel had masterminded the attack as a sequel to a conflict with some sweepers of the Harijan Palli. Jewel had damaged the Puja pavilion of the Dalit community during the Durga Puja in October.
