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In Bangladesh, the police have arrested a young Hindu man named Hari Das Taroni on charges of money laundering.
Manindra Kumar Nath, General Secretary of the Bangladesh Hindu-Buddhist-Christian Unity Council, confirmed the news of the arrest of this Hindu youth. "I just spoke on the phone with the Police Superintendent of Gaibandha. The police Superintendent told me that Hari Das, the youth, has been arrested. I had asked him what the charge was, and then the SP said that he was arrested on money laundering charges, and that he was arrested by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the Bangladesh Police from the Uttora area of Dhaka", Nath told ANI. "I strongly condemn this arrest. I believe that, instead of arresting the youth, they should have arrested the extremists", he added. Hari Das had begun the construction of an 81-foot-high Lord Ram statue in Gaibandha district in northern Bangladesh. The development follows widespread demonstrations by the Hindu minority, last month, over the reported desecration of an image of Lord Ram during an Islamist demonstration in the Gaibandha district of northern Bangladesh. On June 23, India strongly urged Bangladesh to initiate decisive action against radical Islamist outfits and guarantee the absolute protection of minority communities. Later addressing the sensitive geopolitical developments during a media briefing in New Delhi, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal expressed New Delhi's deep concern over the escalating targeting of religious institutions and symbols. "We have seen reports from Bangladesh regarding acts of desecration involving Hindu deities and their images, which have sparked protests. We expect the Bangladeshi government to curb the extremists there and guarantee the safety of the minority community," Jaiswal stated. Meanwhile, a coordination meeting was held on Sunday at the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) Headquarters regarding security, law and order, and traffic management on the occasion of the upcoming Rath Yatra, a major festival of the Hindu community. The meeting was presided over by the DMP Commissioner, Mosleh Uddin Ahmed. During the meeting, the measures and directives taken by the Dhaka Metropolitan Police for the celebration of the Rath Yatra on July 16 and the Ulto Rath Yatra on July 24 were discussed. It was informed that adequate police personnel, including picket parties, patrol parties, CCTV monitoring, foot patrols, rooftop parties, motorcycle mobiles, DB teams, plainclothes intelligence teams, SWAT teams, bomb disposal teams, and traffic police, will be deployed, DMP said in a press release on Sunday. A unanimous decision was reached to ensure that the Rath Yatra concludes along the designated routes and within the specified timeframes. (ANI)
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