Amid the crackdown on the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) in Bangladesh, the country’s central bank has frozen the bank accounts of 17 persons associated with the Hindu organization. As per reports, the Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU), a wing of Bangladesh Bank, has directed banks to freeze the accounts of 17 people with “interests associated” with ISKCON, Bangladesh.
The 17 people include former ISKCON leader Chandan Kumar Dhar, also known as Chinmoy Krishna Das Brahmachari, whose arrest led to violence and the killing of lawyer Saiful Islam in Chattogram. Other people targeted by BFIU are Kartik Chandra Dey, Anik Pal, Soroj Roy, Sushanta Das, Biswha Kumar Singha, Chandidas Bala, Jaydev Karmakar, Lipi Rani Karmakar, Sudhama Gaur Das, Lakkhan Kanti Das, Priyatosh Das, Rupan Das, Rupan Kumar Dhar, Ashish Purohit, Jagadish Chandra Adhikari and Sajal Das.
The BFIU has directed the banks to suspend all types of transactions on the bank accounts of these individuals. The authority has issued the order under powers granted by section 23(1)(c) of the Anti-Money Laundering Act, 2012. It states that transactions in the accounts (excluding the accounts of import and export companies) operated in the name of ISKCON and its related entities and their owned establishments are instructed to be suspended for 30 days.
The BFIU has also instructed banks to provide detailed account-related information, including updated transaction records of businesses owned by the 17 individuals, within three working days.
On Monday, November 25, Bangladesh Police arrested former ISKCON monk Chinmoy Das in a sedition case. His arrest triggered massive protests in the country. Such a protest turned into clashes with police in Chattogram on Tuesday, in which lawyer Saiful Islam. Police have booked and arrested several Hindus in connection with the violence and the killing.
