Ex-ISKCON leader arrested from HSIA

Former ISKCON leader Chandan Kumar Dhar, alias Chinmoy Krishna Das Brahmachari, was arrested from Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport area in Dhaka yesterday afternoon.

Rezaul Karim Mallick, additional commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police and chief of the Detective Branch, said a team of detectives arrested him in connection with a case filed in Chattogram.

Earlier on October 31, a case was filed with Kotwali Police Station in Chattogram, accusing Chinmoy, former divisional organising secretary of the Chattogram ISKCON (International Society for Krishna Consciousness), and 18 others.

Firoz Khan, the then general secretary of Mohora ward BNP, filed the case on charges of disrespecting Bangladesh's national flag in Chattogram's New Market area during a rally of the Hindu community on October 25.

Firoz, however, was expelled from the party over "anti-party" activities a day after filing the case.

According to the case statement, the incident occurred on October 25, when some youths reportedly placed a saffron-coloured flag over the Bangladeshi flag on the Shadhinata Sthombho (independence pillar) at the Zero Point near the New Market intersection during a rally organised by the Hindus under the banner "Sanatan Jagaran Mancha".

Protesting Chinmoy's arrest, hundreds of people from the Hindu community gathered at Cheragi Pahar intersection in the port city around 6:00pm yesterday. They brought out a procession and demanded his immediate release.

Contacted, Swatantro Gouranga Das Brahmachari, a member of the managing committee of ISKCON Prabartak Sri Krishna Mandir, said Chinmoy went to Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka around 3:30pm to catch a domestic flight to Chattogram.

"From his personal assistant, I found out that some plainclothes men, who introduced themselves as members of the Detective Branch, picked him up from the entrance to the airport.

"So far, we learned he was taken to the DB office at the capital's Minto Road."

Kazi Tarek Aziz, additional deputy commissioner (public relations) of Chattogram Metropolitan Police, said police have been deployed at Cheragi Pahar to prevent any untoward incident.

In the capital, many from the Hindu community came out on the street and blocked the Shahbagh intersection in the evening to protest the arrest.

The Hindu-Bouddha-Christian Oikya Parishad in a statement also condemned the arrest.

Its presidents Ushaton Talukder, Prof Dr Nim Chandra Bhowmik, and Nirmal Rozario, and acting general secretary Manindra Kumar Nath demanded the release of the Sammilita Sanatani Jagaran Jote spokesperson Prabhu Chinmoy Krishna Das Brahmachari in the interest of the nation.

They said the arrest has the potential to tarnish Bangladesh's global image on the issue of freedom of expression and human rights.

Earlier, police arrested two other accused -- Rajesh Chowdhury and Hriday Das -- from Chattogram's Sadarghat area.

The others accused in the case are Ajay Dutta, Leela Raj Das Brahmachari, Gopal Das Tipu, Dr Kathak Das, Engineer Amit Dhar, Roni Das, Rajib Das, Krishna Kumar Dutta, Jiku Chowdhury, Newton Dey, Tushar Chakraborty Rajib, Mithun Dey, Rupan Dhar, Rimon Dutta, Sukanta Das and Biswajit Gupta.