Published : 26 Nov 2024, 07:14 PM
Updated : 21 Aug 2026, 12:07 PM
A court has ordered to send Chinmoy Krishna Das Brahmachari, a Hindu priest and a religious minority leader in Bangladesh to jail, turning down his bail appeal.
The court of Chattogram Sixth Metropolitan Magistrate Kazi Shariful Islam issued the order around 11:45am on Tuesday.
The followers of the Hindu priest began to chant slogans in protest at the court premises as he was not granted bail.
Earlier, he was brought to the court around 10:45am amid tight security.
A large number of law enforcers were present when Chinmoy Krishna was presented to the court after getting him off the prison van.
He greeted the Hindu community gathered at the court premises with folded hands. Some lawyers supporting Chinmoy were present at the court.
The lawyers chanted slogan “Jai Sree Ram” when the minority leader was presented to the court, but he asked them to refrain from it.
Judge Shariful said Chinmoy was arrested from outside Chattogram. A custody warrant was needed as an arrestee should be presented to the court in 24 hours as per the law.
At that time, the lawyers collectively requested the issuance of a custody warrant for all of them and urged the court to hear the bail plea.
"I respect your emotions for him. We need to see if we can hear the bail plea," said Shariful.
The judge then left the bench. Chinmoy Krishna and the lawyers waited for the judge to return.
The judge returned at 11:30am and ordered to present the bail appeal.
Chinmoy's legal counsel Shuvasish Sharma presented the bail appeal for hearing.
Chinmoy, too, gave his statement.
Since his bail was not granted, the lawyers sought the court's order to allow Chinmoy Krishna to perform his religious rituals while in jail.
The court ordered to follow the prison code of conduct in this regard.
Chinmoy Krishna, principal of Chattogram’s Pundarik Dham, has been advocating on behalf of the Sanatani or Hindu community across Bangladesh, raising eight demands, including an end to minority persecution.
Following a public rally at Chattogram’s Laldighi Maidan on Oct 25, a sedition case was filed on Oct 30 against Chinmoy and 18 others at Kotwali Police Station.
Chinmoy was arrested from Dhaka's Shahjalal International Airport on Monday evening, said Additional Commissioner Rezaul Karim Mallik of Dhaka Metropolitan Police’s Detective Branch.
A Facebook page associated with Pundarik Dham shared a photo of Chinmoy, claiming he was "picked up by individuals identifying as DB police from Dhaka airport."
Swatantra Gauranga Das Brahmachari, a leader of the alliance Sanatan Jagaran Jote, told bdnews24.com: "Chinmoy Prabhu was supposed to fly from Dhaka to Chattogram. We have heard that police picked him up from the airport."
Protests broke out against the arrest of Chinmoy Krishna in different districts including Dhaka, Chattogram, Cumilla, Khulna, Dinajpur and Cox's Bazar.
Later, police said he was arrested in a case filed with the Kotwali Police Station.
