"Remove that cricketer": Spiritual leader Devkinandan Thakur slams KKR for buying Bangladesh's Mustafizur Rahman in squad for IPL

New Delhi [India], January 1 (ANI): Spiritual leader Devkinandan Thakur on Thursday condemned the inclusion of Bangladeshi cricketer Mustafizur Rahman in the squad of Shah Rukh Khan's co-owned Indian Premier League (IPL) team Kolkata Knight Riders amid the increased violence against Hindus in the neighbouring country.
Speaking to ANI, Devkinandan Thakur criticised KKR management for including a Bangladeshi player in the squad, urging them to remove the cricketer and invest the signing amount in the welfare of Hindu children.
"The management of KKR, their boss, should remove that cricketer (Mustafizur Rahman). Rs 9.2 crore that they are giving to that cricketer, that money should be given as an apology to the relatives of the Hindu children if they are in India, so that at least they can know that their feelings are with the Hindus," said Devkinandan Thakur.
The spiritual leader's criticism came in the backdrop of a mob lynching of the Hindu youth, Dipu Chandra Das, a worker in a garment factory, in Bangladesh's Mymensingh district.
According to reports, Dipu Das, who was beaten to death by a mob over alleged blasphemy charges, had his body hanged and set on fire on December 18.
The Daily Star, citing Mymensingh's Additional Superintendent of Police, Abdullah Al Mamun, stated that a factory official had informed Bhaluka police that a group of workers attacked Dipu inside the factory, accusing him of making communal remarks.
Factory sources told The Daily Star that the assailants later took Dipu out of the factory premises, where residents also joined the attack, resulting in his death.
However, Rapid Action Battalion (RAB)-14 Company Commander in Mymensingh, Md Samsuzzaman, told The Daily Star that investigators found no evidence suggesting the deceased had posted or written anything on Facebook that could have hurt religious sentiments, adding that neither residents nor fellow garment factory workers could point to any such activity by the victim.
The victim's brother, Apu Chandra Das, also filed a case at Bhaluka Police Station on Friday, naming 140 to 150 unidentified individuals as accused.
The incident sparked widespread outrage and condemnation among political leaders, religious organisations and minority groups in Bangladesh and India.
It was followed by the lynching of the Hindu youth identified as Amrit Mondal at Hosendanga village of Kalimohor union in Rajbari's Pangsha sub-district over an extortion allegation, as reported by Daily Star. (ANI)