Six Hindu idols were desecrated and some utensils were stolen in three temples in Barisal and Sylhet while seven persons were arrested over an attack on some 20 Hindu houses in Sunamganj yesterday.
Unidentified miscreants in the early morning desecrated four Hindu idols in a temple in Maddhya Rajarchar area under Charmonai union of Barisal sadar upazila, some eight kilometres away from Barisal city, reports our Barisal correspondent.
Hands of the idols of Saraswati, Kartikeya and Ganesha and the ears of Kali were found broken, said Bijoy Krishna Haldar, president of the Maddhya Rajarchar Durga-Kali Mandir management committee, adding that the temple’s door was unlocked.
He said they would file a case soon.
Charmonai union acting chairman Nurul Islam suspected the perpetrators to be local miscreants who had been threatening Bijoy to leave his land in order to grab it.
Barisal Metropolitan Police assured of strengthening security measures and arranging intra-community solidarity talks.
Our Sylhet correspondent reports, two idols of Hindu goddess Kali were desecrated and furniture vandalised in a temple in Telirai area, some four kilometres from Sylhet city, while some utensils were stolen from another in Tukerbaar’s Noagaon area, some seven kilometres from the city.
The Borobari temple’s caretaker, Bithus Malaker, suspected that the attack took place around 4:00am.
“We heard two crackers explode and stayed indoors thinking it was dacoits,” he said, adding that the temple’s door was open as renovation works were ongoing. Police said a case was being filed.
Meanwhile, police arrested seven persons over an attack on some 20 Hindu houses in Bagherkona village of Dakshin Sunamganj under Sunamganj district.
The attack erupted from an arbitration being held in the village over Tuesday’s attack on some Muslim houses which in turn is a result of a feud centring ownership of a 10-acre water body, Superintendent of Police Md Harun Ur Rashid told The Daily Star.