Buddhist monk hacked over 'land dispute'

A Buddhist monk was hacked allegedly by another monk following a dispute over the land of a Buddhist monastery in Cox's Bazar town early yesterday, said police quoting locals.

The victim is Upendita Mohather, 77, a monk of Woi Ma Tara Buddha Bihar, said Bakhtiar Uddin Chowdhury, officer-in-charge of Cox's Bazar Sadar Police Station.

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Around 5:00am, a “local monk” went to the room of Upendita inside the Buddhist monastery in Boillapara area. Seconds later, the man hacked Upendita with a sharp weapon and fled, said the OC, quoting a witness.

Quoting locals, Prof Ketin Ong, principal of Cox's Bazar City College and also director of Rakhine Development Foundation, claimed that the attack was carried out over a land dispute.

The alleged attacker had been claiming that the land on which the monastery was standing belonged to his family, according to the principal.

However, locals said the land had been sold a few years ago, he added.

Mong Tha Sin, president of the managing committee of Woi Ma Tara Buddha Bihar, said there had been a longstanding dispute between the victim and the alleged attacker over the matter.

He said Upendita had been living at the monastery for the last 20 years.

The forefathers of the alleged attackers were landlords and used to own the land, he added.  

OC Bakhtiar said they were trying to arrest the alleged attacker. They also asked the Border Guard Bangladesh to remain alert so that the suspect could not flee to Myanmar through the border, he added.

The injured monk had wounds on his head, shoulder and other parts of the body.

He was first taken to the Cox's Bazar Sadar Hospital and was later referred to the Chittagong Medical College Hospital, said a doctor at the Cox's Bazar hospital.

The monk lost a good amount of blood in the attack, added the doctor.

A case was being filed, said police sources.