According to the report, the local police station chief said that the attackers on Friday stabbed an executive member of the temple committee to death.
Two Hindu men were killed in Bangladesh amid ongoing violent attacks against the religious minority community in the neighbouring country. The latest spate of violence occurred in the southern town of Begumganj as more than 200 protesters attacked a temple when Hindu devotees were performing the last rituals on the final day of Durga Puja, reported news agency AFP citing police.
According to the report, local police station chief Shah Imran said that the attackers on Friday stabbed an executive member of the temple committee to death. The next day, the police found the body of another Hindu man near a pond located next to the temple.
“Two men have died since yesterday’s attack. We are working to find the culprits,” AFP quoted district police chief Shahidul Islam as saying.
The attacks against Hindus in the Muslim-majority nation started over the alleged desecration of the Quran, the central religious text of Islam. After footage of a Quran placed on the knee of goddess Durga’s idol at a puja pandal in Cumilla emerged, protesters attacked pandals and temples across the country.
Reports suggest that anti-Hindu violence spread to more than a dozen districts across Bangladesh, including, Noakhali, Chandpur, Cox’s Bazaar, Chattogram, Chapainawabganj, Pabna, Moulvibazara and Kurigram.
Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina promised stern action to the Hindu community leaders and warned those involved in the attacks on Hindu temples and Durga Puja pandals.
“The incidents in Cumilla are being thoroughly investigated. Nobody will be spared. It doesn’t matter which religion they belong to. They will be hunted down and punished,” she assured while speaking to the Hindu community during an event at Dhakeshwari National Temple in Dhaka.
India said it was in close contact with Bangladesh authorities over the anti-Hindu violence, noting that the celebrations were continuing with the support of the government.
“Our high commission in Dhaka, as well as our consulates in Bangladesh, are obviously in very close contact with the authorities in Dhaka and at local levels,” external affairs ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi told a regular news briefing Thursday.
(With inputs from agencies)
