Dhaka: Four people have been arrested in connection with the theft of Goddess Kali's crown from the Jeshoreshwari temple in Shyamnagar in Bangladesh's Satkhira district. The gilded silver crown was gifted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit to the temple in March 2021. The theft took place on Thursday afternoon, and the Satkhira district police have announced a reward for information about the theft. The identities of the arrested suspects have not yet been made public.
The incident has been captured in CCTV footage, in which a young man, who looks to be around 24-25 years old, enters the temple. He removes the crown from the idol of Maa Kali and escapes after hiding it in his T-shirt. The entire theft took place in just 10-12 seconds, indicating that the accused had pre-planned the incident and had good knowledge of the temple premises. Several devotees, including priest Dilip Kumar Banerjee and priestess Rekha Rani Sarkar, were present in the temple at the time of the incident. When the priest decided to go home after handing over the keys to Rekha, he came to know about the theft of the crown.
Priest Jyoti Prakash Chattopadhyay lodged a complaint of theft at Shyamnagar police station. The Satkhira Superintendent of Police has directed the District Investigation Branch (DB) to investigate the matter. The police shared CCTV footage on their Facebook page and requested the public to help identify the culprit. Bangladesh Youth and Sports Advisor Asif Mahmud Shojib Bhuiyan visited the Jeshoreshwari temple and directed the officials to arrest the thief and recover the crown as soon as possible.
The Indian High Commission in Dhaka and the Ministry of External Affairs of India have expressed deep concern over this theft and urged the Bangladesh authorities to recover the crown. Jeshoreshwari temple is one of the 51 Shakti Peethas of Hinduism, seven of which are located in Bangladesh. Prime Minister Modi placed a crown on the head of Goddess Kali here on March 21, 2021. Since the crown was stolen, prayers have not yet been offered at the temple, causing disappointment among the local Hindu community.
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