Gold crown gifted by PM Modi to Bangladesh temple stolen amid Durga Puja celebrations

A gold crown gifted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi was stolen from a Hindu temple in Bangladesh's southwestern Satkhira district amid Durga Puja celebrations, a theft over which India has expressed concern.

Bangladesh police on Friday said they have identified a man and launched a massive manhunt to recover the gold crown that was stolen from the Jeshoreshwari Kali temple on Thursday.

In a post on X, the Indian High Commission in Dhaka expressed deep concern over the theft and called upon the authorities to recover the article and take action against the perpetrators of the crime.

“A massive manhunt is under way to arrest the culprit identified through the CCTV footage,” Satkhira's police chief Monirul Islam said, adding that the police were aware that the issue was sensitive.

The police superintendent said the crown was stolen between 2.47 pm and 2.50 pm on Thursday.

A private news channel showed a young man wearing a white t-shirt and jeans sneaking into the Jeshoreshwari Kali Temple and removing the golden part of the crown and pocketing it while nobody was inside the temple.

A woman worker later discovered that the crown was missing from the head of the Kali statue and raised the alarm.

According to Hindu residents of the neighbourhood, priest Dilip Kumar Banerjee went home as per his daily routine after the afternoon puja, leaving the key of the temple with Rekha who was in charge of the temple services.

“It could be a simple case of theft or it could be a case of an orchestrated plot. We demand the matter be investigated properly and the persons involved be brought to justice,” leader of Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council Krishna Mukherjee said.

Modi gifted the crown on March 27, 2021, during his Bangladesh visit.

India expressed concern over the incident with its high commission in Dhaka issuing a statement asking authorities to recover the crown and take action against the perpetrators.

"We express concern over the incident and urge the Government of Bangladesh to investigate the theft, recover the crown and take action against the perpetrators," the High Commission said in a Facebook post.

The theft took place even as the country ordered an extra security vigil as the Hindu community's biggest religious festival Durga Puja is under way.