Last Updated on September 20, 2025 10:41 pm by INDIAN AWAAZ
Zakir Hossain / Dhaka
Several idols of goddess Durga were vandalised at the Kashimpur Crematorium Temple in Gazipur on Wednesday, just days before Durga Puja, police and temple authorities said.
The incident occurred at the Agragami Jubo Sangha Sarbajanin Puja Mandap in the afternoon, said Moniruzzaman, chief of Kashimpur Police Station.
Prabir Datta, president of the temple committee, said the pandal had been covered with tarpaulin after work was completed earlier in the day. “In the afternoon, someone entered the pandal and vandalised five or six idols. They damaged the others. We are concerned about the matter,” he said.
As it was raining, workers had paused idol-making. When they returned in the evening, they found the idols damaged. Police later inspected the site.
Moniruzzaman said investigators suspect the damage may have occurred during an attempted theft. “The work on the idols is not finished yet. They said they will fix them,” he added, noting that no complaint had yet been filed.
The incident comes just days after a similar case of temple vandalism was reported in Kushtia.
Durga Puja: 29 Bangladesh districts flagged at risk of communal unrest
A civic platform, Sampriti Jatra, has identified 29 districts across Bangladesh as vulnerable to communal violence ahead of the upcoming Durga Puja, pointing to a decade-long trend of “communal unrest” and “targeted attacks.”
At a press conference at the Dhaka Reporters Unity on Saturday, the group said its findings were based on media reports and human rights documentation over the last ten years, with most incidents involving attacks on puja mandaps, processions, and homes of minority communities.
Of the 29 districts flagged, five— Dhaka, Rangpur, Jashore, Chandpur and Noakhali— were categorised as high risk. The remaining 24, including Chattogram, Cumilla, Brahmanbaria, Khulna, Satkhira, Barishal and Gazipur, were marked moderately vulnerable, while 35 districts were assessed as low risk.