Days after Chinmoy Krishna Das, second Hindu priest arrested in Bangladesh

The arrested Hindu monk was identified as Shyam Das Prabhu.

He was arrested without any official warrant, sources told Indian news channel NDTV.

Radharamn Das, Vice-President and Spokesperson, ISKCON Kolkata, shared an image of the arrested monk on is X handle and wrote: "Another Brahmachari Sri Shyam Das Prabhu was arrested by Chattogram Police today."

Temples vandalised in Chittagong

At least three Hindu temples were vandalised by a group of slogan-shouting attackers in Chittagong on Friday, a Bangladeshi city which has been witnessing massive protests by minority community members over the arrest of former ISKCON member Chinmoy Krishna Das.

The attack occurred around 2:30pm at the Harish Chandra Munsef Lane, where the Shantaneshwari Matri Temple, the nearby Shoni Temple, and Shantaneshwari Kalibari Temple were targeted, reported bdnews24.

Temple authorities told the news portal that a large number of slogan-shouting mob threw brickbats at the temples which damaged the Shoni Temple and the gates of the other two Hindu temples.

Police told bdnews24 website that the damage to the temples was minimal after the confrontation between the two sides, with both groups throwing brickbats at each other.

Tapan Das, a permanent member of the Shantineshwari Main Temple management committee, and a leader of the Harish Chandra Munsef Lane community, told bdnews24.com: “A procession of hundreds arrived after the Juma prayers. They started shouting anti-Hindu and anti-ISKCON slogans.”

“The attackers began hitting the main gate of the Shantaneshwari Temple, and threw brickbats. At the time, they vandalised the Shoni Temple and also attacked the Kali Temple. Several nearby shops were also targeted,” he said.

“We did not obstruct the attackers. When the situation worsened, we called the army, who arrived quickly and helped restore order. All the temple gates were closed before noon. The miscreants arrived unprovoked and carried out the attack," he said.

Bangladesh is once again witnessing turmoil since Chinmoy Krishna Das was arrested recently, triggering massive protests by minority community members in the country.

Bangladesh has been struggling for the past several months since a massive anti-job quota demonstration forced former PM Sheikh Hasina-led government to topple, ending her new term prematurely and leaving the country amid a political crisis.

It is suspected that foreign hands were at play in orchestrating the unrest and planning her ouster.

Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus-led government took charge of the country just three days after Hasina exited the country. Yunus, known for his closeness to the US Democrats, also accepted later in an event in America that there was “design and conspiracy" involved in the ouster of Sheikh Hasina.