Youth held over vandalism of idols in temple
Police have arrested a man on charges of vandalising idols in a Hindu temple in the capital's Khilgaon on Monday.
Arrestee Md Ezazul Hossain Khan, 31, appeared to be mentally ill. He received treatment for the illness, said police.
Ezazul entered Dev Mandir in Tilpapara area of Khilgaon after scaling the main entrance at 2:28pm on Monday.
He vandalised several idols and left the temple within four minutes, according to a case filed by the temple management committee with Khilgaon Police Station on Tuesday.
Abdul Ahad, deputy commissioner (Motijheel division) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police, said they picked up the youth from the capital on Tuesday afternoon.
Yesterday, a Dhaka court placed the arrestee on three-day remand after police produced him before it seeking 10-day remand, he added.
"We are trying to be sure whether or not he is ill," Ahad told The Daily Star.
Narayan Chandra Bhowmik, president of the Dev Mandir management committee, said Ezazul was carrying a sword tucked into his waist.
"CCTV footage showed that he drew the sword from his waist after entering the temple. The temple staffers were taking rest at that time," he said.
The youth, who was wearing black panjabi, pyjama and cap, broke the idols with a brick, said Narayan.
The Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) unit is assisting Khilgaon police in the investigation.
Investigators said Ezazul went to Lebanon in 2010 and returned home the following year.
Jamil Hossain Khan, the arrestees' father, said his son had been receiving treatment for mental illness at a hospital in the city's Shyamoli for the last seven years.
"Ezazul was given an injection three months back. He was supposed to receive another dose, but he did not receive it as we could not realise when he came home and went out in the last couple of weeks," he said.
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