Temple bombed in Bangladesh; 2 Hindus killed in separate incidents: Rights group flags attacks on minorities

Dhaka [Bangladesh], March 9 (ANI): Over the past week in Bangladesh, two Hindu men were killed in separate incidents while four people, including a priest, sustained injuries after a crude bomb went off inside a temple in the country, according to rights group Bangladesh Jatio Hindu Mohajote (Bangladesh National Grand Alliance).
Two persons were murdered in Bogura and Cox's Bazar, on March 6 and March 7, while crude bombs were thrown at a Hindu temple in Cumilla city during a puja on March 8, triggering significant panic, the rights group said on Sunday.
"On March 7 (Saturday) at approximately 6:30 pm, during the worship of Shani Dev at a temple in the South Thakurpara area of Cumilla city, communal terrorists detonated crude bombs. The temple priest and four others were seriously injured," Bangladesh Jatio Hindu Mohajote said in a statement.
A report by Bangladesh news outlet 'The Daily Star' confirmed details of the attack at the Kaligach Tala Kali Mandir. Touhidul Anwar, officer-in-charge of Kotwali Model Police Station, said priest Keshob Chakraborty, along with two others, received treatment at a hospital.
Sajol Kumar Chanda, president of the temple committee, said the blast occurred during the religious ceremony. CCTV footage reportedly showed a masked person entering the temple shortly before the explosion and leaving a bag behind.
Describing the moment of the blast, injured priest Keshab Chakraborty was cited by the Daily Star as saying, "After the bomb explosion, a white object fell in front of me... Later, seeing smoke, others told me it was a bomb."
The news outlet reported witnesses as saying that panic spread in the area after the explosion. Following the first blast, attackers allegedly detonated two more crude bombs near a nearby Buddhist temple and a private office.
Shyamal Krishna, convener of the Metropolitan Puja Celebration Front, visited the site and called for quick action against those responsible. "Those who are trying to disturb the peaceful environment must be arrested quickly," he said as per the Daily Star. Police officials, including Cumilla Superintendent of Police Md Anisuzzaman, also visited the site after the incident, and a bomb disposal unit was called to assist the investigation.
Meanwhile, in a statement issued on Sunday, Mrityunjoy Kumar Roy, the General Secretary of Bangladesh Jatio Hindu Mohajote said, "On 6 March 2026 (Friday) at around 9:30 pm in Sariakandi, Bogura district, Chayon Rajbhar (40) was stabbed to death by miscreants over a land dispute. The deceased, Chayon Rajbhar, was the director of a local coaching centre named 'The New Contest'.
"The following day, on 7 March (Saturday) at around 2:00 pm in Cox's Bazar town, a Hindu youth named Ganesh Pal (29) was stabbed to death by communal terrorists after he refused to pay extortion money", the statement added.
The rights group said that a week earlier, in the Alankar area of Chattogram city, a Hindu youth named Akash Das was killed for "protesting extortion from workers." In Badurpara Hindu area of Chandanaish upazila in the same district, a 70-year-old man named Chandan Dey was shot dead by armed criminals for resisting cattle theft", it said.
The group has demanded strict legal action, implementation of a zero-tolerance policy, financial assistance to the affected families, and the immediate arrest and exemplary punishment of those involved to prevent the recurrence of such incidents.
In general elections last month, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and its allies won a two-thirds majority in the parliament, following which Tarique Rahman became the country's Prime Minister. (ANI)