On the wee hours of Thursday (13th February), extremists laid siege to the Solahati Durga Mandir and vandalised two idols of Goddess Saraswati. The incident occurred in Turag in Dhaka city of Bangladesh.
According to a report by Ajker Patrika, a case was registered against unidentified men based on a police complaint. None of the extremists involved in the attack have been arrested so far.
The development was confirmed by the Turag Police Station OC Mohammed Rahat Khan. As per the locals, the attack was carried out by extremists, who came to the temple in a white car at about 3:45 am on Thursday. Thereafter, they vandalised the idols of the Hindu deities and fled the scene.
The son of the President of the Solahati Durga Mandir, Palash Sarkar, remarked, “Although we immersed the idol of Goddess Durga, we kept the idol of Goddess Saraswati at the temple. A few days ago, we had Saraswati Puja and a new idol was prepared for the occasion.”
He informed that a guard, who was on-duty at a nearby cattle farm, saw the extremists entering the temple. However, he did not intervene fearing that they might be armed with weapons. The guard instead went to bring in people. By the time he returned, the extremists fled the scene.
The local Hindus called the police, who came only in the morning. They collected evidence of idol vandalism and ‘assured’ to take action in this matter. The cops also analysed CCTV footage and yet could not nab the extremists involved in the attack on the Hindu temple.
Bangladesh: Mirajuddin barges into temple and vandalises idol of Goddess Saraswati
This is not the first time that such an incident has come to light. On 31st January, a Muslim man barged into a Kali temple in Faridpur city of Bangladesh and vandalised an under-construction idol of Goddess Saraswati.
According to reports, the accused was identified as 32-year-old Mohammed Mirajuddin. He was caught red-handed attacking the Hindu place of worship, following which the accused was handed over to the people.
Mirajuddin was subsequently arrested and produced before a court. He was thereafter remanded to custody. According to the temple committee members, the Kali temple is protected by a 4-foot brick wall and the main gain is made of rods.
This facilitated the easy entry of Mohammed Mirajuddin into the temple premises. The idol which was vandalised was being prepared for Saraswati Puja, scheduled to be held on 3rd February.
Mirajuddin was previously involved in the destruction of the idol of Saraswati idol at the Faridpur ISKCON temple in February last year. Despite his arrest at that time, he was released on grounds of ‘mental instability.’
