Several Hindu idols looted from a temple in Brahmbaria, Bangladesh amidst ongoing anti-Hindu persecution
Brahmanbaria, Chittagong Division, Bangladesh 
25 January, 2026
Case Summary
In Nasirnagar Upazila, Brahmanbaria district, Bangladesh, thieves stole fourteen idols of Hindu deities, gold and silver ornaments, ritual items, cash, and two donation boxes from the Sri Sri Pagal Shankar ISKCON (International Society for Krishna Consciousness) temple. Thieves broke the locks of five rooms within the temple complex and cut through grilles to access the idols. The theft was the second such incident at the same temple, following a robbery in 2017 in which thieves took six idols, cash, and ornaments. Temple residents expressed profound anguish and stated that they no longer felt safe. As per media reports, the theft took place between 2 AM and 3 AM on 26 January 2026. Thieves broke into five rooms within the temple complex and cut through grilles to reach the idols. Of the fourteen stolen idols, six were made of brass and eight of stone. Additional items taken included a silver shoe, a flute, bronze utensils, a harmonium, a bucket, a brass seat, brass glasses, a pure water motor, and cash from two donation boxes totalling approximately 20,000 Bangladeshi taka. Gold ornaments belonging to a resident were also stolen. The theft came to light at approximately 4 AM when temple priest Adi Shishya arrived at the main gate to perform Mangal Aarti (the first devotional worship of the day performed before dawn in Hindu temples) and discovered that multiple locks had been broken. He immediately informed temple service chief Sukhada Balaram Das, after which police and administrative officials arrived to inspect the site. Temple priest Lipi Rani Gop expressed the anguish of the community and asked what crime they had committed to be subjected to such treatment repeatedly. Resident Shilpa Rani Malakar, a widow who served the Lord at the temple, stated that on returning to the temple, she found the lock of her room broken and approximately 20,000 Bangladeshi taka in cash and gold ornaments stolen. Temple service chief Sukhada Balaram Das described the community's extreme concern over the incident. Nasirnagar Upazila Nirbahi Officer Shahina Nasrin stated that the thieves initially targeted the donation boxes. Three closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras were installed in the temple area, but only one was operational at the time of the theft. The available footage showed a suspect wrapped in cloth, which made identification difficult. Police Superintendent Shah Muhammad Abdur Rouf confirmed that thieves stole the idols by cutting through the grille and that police filed a case, with multiple police teams working on the matter. The process of filing a formal case was underway at the time of writing this report. A fresh wave of anti-Hindu violence prevailed across Bangladesh following the death of Sharif Osman Bin Hadi. This escalation occurred against the backdrop of ongoing anti-Hindu violence that had persisted since the ouster of the Sheikh Hasina government in August 2024, during which Hindu homes, temples, and religious spaces were repeatedly attacked, and the Hindu community faced intimidation, arson, and mob attacks. In the aftermath of Hadi’s death, Hindu homes were selectively targeted and set ablaze in multiple localities by Muslim mobs, forcing families to flee and rendering many homeless. The violence was not sporadic but patterned, with Muslim mobs targeting Hindu neighbourhoods, properties, and religious symbols with impunity. One of the many victims of this wave of violence was a Hindu man named Dipu Chandra Das, who was brutally lynched by a Muslim mob over false allegations of blasphemy. Such targeting of innocent Hindus over fabricated charges illustrated the vulnerability of the Hindu minority under conditions of rising communal hostility. Posters and written materials calling for the extermination of Hindus were displayed in public spaces, signalling an alarming normalisation of genocidal rhetoric. Combined with acts of physical violence, arson, and vandalism, these developments demonstrated a coordinated campaign designed to terrorise the Hindu community and assert Islamic dominance. Notably, Sharif Osman Bin Hadi was a Muslim political activist and student leader known for his anti-Hindu and anti-India stance. He was actively involved in the political unrest that followed the fall of Sheikh Hasina’s government and was killed in Dhaka in December 2025 during clashes, after which Hindus were blamed and subsequently targeted.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
The primary category for this case is "Attack on Hindu religious representations". The sub-category for this case is "Desecration of Hindu religious symbol". Icons and symbols or a religious representation of a spiritual ideal are widely revered in Hinduism. Iconography is of vital significance in the Hindu milieu. It helps connect people’s spiritual beliefs with the real world. Iconography within the Hindu faith takes several shapes and forms. Murtis are of most significance to Hindus, to which daily rituals, prayers and offerings are done. Besides the murtis, there are several other symbols which have deep significance in the Hindu faith – the Om and Swastika for example. Since these Hindu religious symbols hold paramount importance in Hinduism, any desecration of symbols, icons, murtis, religious representations and manifestations, is driven by animosity towards the faith itself which manifests itself through these murtis, icons and symbols. Therefore, any desecration of these Hindu religious symbols and representations is considered religiously motivated hate crimes under this category. Another sub-category for this case is "Attack on Temples". In Hinduism, a temple is the abode of the Deity. The Deity in the Temple is consecrated, thereby, making it a real, breathing entity. Hindus believe that not just the Deity but the temple premises itself are sacred to Hindus since Hindus hold the faith that the entire Temple space is an amalgamation of the divine energy of the deity. Given the central significance of Temples in Hindu Dharma, any attack against a Hindu Temple or its peripheral premises is an attack on the faith itself and is born out of animosity towards the faith, of which, the Temple is a central tenet. Any manner of attack against a Temple and/or its premises would therefore be considered a religiously motivated hate crime. In this case, the Sri Sri Pagal Shankar ISKCON temple in Nasirnagar Upazila, Brahmanbaria district, Bangladesh, was broken into and systematically looted, with fourteen consecrated idols, gold and silver ornaments, ritual objects, and cash stolen from five rooms within the temple complex. The attack was not opportunistic. It was deliberate, methodical, and directed specifically at a Hindu place of worship in a country where attacks on Hindu religious sites have been escalating sharply since Sheikh Hasina's political exile in August 2024. While some may argue that the case details do not explicitly state a religious motive, the broader context of anti‑Hindu persecution in Bangladesh remains relevant for classification. During periods of sustained violence against Hindus based on religious identity, the Hinduphobia Tracker applies a contextual presumption that attacks on Hindu victims are likely faith‑targeted, even when the immediate report does not record a specific religious marker. In such periods, the normalisation of religious hostility and the dehumanisation of minorities can contribute to crimes against them without perpetrators openly stating their motive. For the purpose of documenting the 2024 to 2026 ethnic cleansing of Hindus in Bangladesh and their subsequent persecution after the death of Sharif Osman Hadi and the political exile of Sheikh Hasina, the Hinduphobia Tracker records such incidents as likely religiously motivated at the point of entry. If any case is later established through credible investigation or court findings to stem from motivations other than religious hostility, it will be revised or removed from the hate crime database. The theft of fourteen consecrated idols is the primary religious marker of this case. The idols stolen from the ISKCON temple were not decorative objects or items of mere monetary value. They were consecrated representations of Hindu deities, the living centre of the devotional practice of the temple community. ISKCON temples follow a strict regimen of deity worship in which the idols are treated as living presences, bathed, dressed, offered food, and worshipped multiple times daily. The removal of these idols from the temple does not merely constitute theft. It constitutes the forcible removal of the divine presence from a consecrated Hindu place of worship, leaving the community without its sacred religious symbols at the centre of their devotional life. A Hindu temple is a consecrated space governed by specific codes of ritual purity and sanctity. The forcible entry into five rooms within the temple complex, the cutting of grilles, and the breaking of locks constituted a sustained and deliberate violation of the sacred boundaries of the religious space. The perpetrators did not merely steal from a building. They desecrated a consecrated Hindu religious space by entering it under the cover of darkness with the intent to strip it of its sacred contents. The attack on the temple premises is the third religious marker. The ISKCON temple in Nasirnagar was not randomly selected as a target. It is a prominent Hindu religious institution serving the Hindu minority community of the area. The systematic nature of the break-in, five rooms entered, grilles cut, locks broken, and a wide range of religious and personal items taken, reflects a deliberate and organised targeting of a Hindu place of worship rather than an opportunistic theft from a random premises. The repeated targeting of the same temple is the fourth religious marker. This was not the first time the Nasirnagar ISKCON temple had been attacked. In 2017, a gang broke into the same temple and stole six idols, cash, and ornaments. The recurrence of the attack at the same location reflects a pattern of sustained targeting of this specific Hindu religious institution. This repeated targeting also showcases that the attack is most likely motivated by religious bias and hostility. Given that this case met the parameters of a religiously motivated hate crime, it was added to the hate crime database of the tracker.
Case Status
Complaint filed
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Unknown
Perpetrators Range
Unknown
Perpetrators Gender
unknown
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