Dhaka: In yet another disturbing incident targeting a Hindu place of worship in Bangladesh, a goddess Durga temple located inside Laxminarayan Cotton Mill in the Siddhirganj area of Narayanganj was vandalised, local media reported.
Knit Concern Group, a ready-made garment manufacturing company, has been accused of blocking access to the temple and carrying out the vandalism.
Police took the group’s director, Monir Hossain Mollah, and security department in-charge Ibrahim into custody on Wednesday evening for questioning in connection with the incident.
According to Bangladeshi Bengali daily Dhaka Tribune, Narayanganj Additional Superintendent of Police (Crime) Tarek Al Mehedi confirmed the development and said, “We are talking about the land-related complications between the temple committee and the Knit Concern Group. We are looking at how to resolve the issue. On the other hand, the temple committee has also complained about vandalism and obstruction of entry to the temple. Action is being taken to take action in that regard.”
According to Tarun Lal Begi, the General Secretary of Laxminarayan Cotton Mills Durga Temple Committee, the temple gate’s existing lock was removed Tuesday evening and replaced with a new one to prevent people from entering the premises.
He alleged that members of the Knit Concern Group carried out the act in defiance of the administration’s instructions. He further claimed that the group’s director, Monir Hossain Mollah, along with his associates, vandalised the decorations and pandal inside the temple.
Furthermore, amid continuing violence against minorities in Bangladesh, another Hindu man was found dead, with his body stuffed in a sack and dumped in the Mukteshwari River in Jashore district, local media reported.
The deceased, identified as 65-year-old Ranjan Mondal, who owned a fish farm, was found near Helarghat in the Mashiahati area of Monirampur upazila in Jashore November 7.
His wife, Beauty Mondal, said that Ranjan left home on the afternoon of November 6 but did not return. She said police informed her about the recovery of his body the next morning.
She further claimed that there were injury marks on his neck and other parts of his body.
Assistant Superintendent of Police of Monirampur, Imdadul Haque, said that the body was recovered following information received by police and later sent to Jashore 250-bed General Hospital for autopsy, Dhaka Stream reported.
Last month, another Hindu man, 43-year-old Rabendra Rishi, was allegedly stabbed to death, while three homes belonging to Hindu families were vandalised and looted in a separate incident in Bangladesh.
These incidents came amid escalating atrocities against minority communities, particularly Hindus in Bangladesh, a trend that began during the former Muhammad Yunus-led interim government and has persisted under the current Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) administration.