Buddhist monk killed in Bandarban monastery
Staff Reporter
Unidentified assailants murdered a 70-year-old Buddhist monk at his personal bihar (monastery) in Chakpara of Bandarban districts Naikkhanchhari upazila early yesterday. While the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) believes that the motive was theft, the victims family claimed that nothing was stolen.
According to Mong Shu Yous daughter-in-law, she found his body when she went to the monastery with his food around 5am. She claimed that no valuables had gone missing from the monastery.
Mong Shu You had been staying alone in the monastery for the last two years, she said. The monks son, Aung Sa Dhoai Chak, said his father had no enmity with anyone in the area.
Lt Col. Amwarul Azim, chief of the local BGB, told The Independent, We primarily suspect that he was murdered due to financial reasons. After visiting the spot, he said, We have come to know that a few days ago, the monk had sold a garden and had kept the money in the monastery. Many local people knew about the huge amount of money, the BGB official added.
He denied the possibility of militant involvement, saying militants are not active in the area.
The monk had apparently told his family members that he had seen some evil-looking young men moving around the bihar suspiciously ever since he had sold the garden. On Friday night, there was a wedding in the neighbourhood and many people visited the area.
A local youth close to the family said the monk had sold the garden for Tk. 4 lakh around three or four days ago.
Another local source claimed that the monk often visited Myanmar. He claimed that there are three groups among the Mongs and the victim was actively involved in one of those. The monk had apparently received death threats, too, but nobody took it seriously.
Mizanur Rahman, superintendent of police (SP) of Bandarban, said, Police are trying to unearth the reason behind the murder and the killers will be brought to book.
Home minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal called the killing an isolated incident and pointed a finger at the victims relatives. While responding to a question at Rajshahi University yesterday, he said, The Mong murder is an isolated incident and the victims relatives are involved in it.
State minister for Chittagong Hill Tracts affairs, Bir Bahadur Ushwi Sing, and other top officials visited the spot.
Barrister Jyotirmoy Barua, a human rights lawyer, also told The Independent that he has come to know that the monk had received threats in the past.
Nizamul Karim, an activist of an NGO, told this correspondent that he had gone to the spot several times to meet the monk and had been very familiar with him. When he had visited him five to six months ago, the monk had told him that he had been attacked by some miscreants earlier.
Replying to a question, he said, I have visited him more than five times.
According to the sources, a few months ago, some converted Christian youths vandalised the Buddhist temple and damaged the statue of a Buddhist spiritual leader. There are 300 Chak families living in the area and around 30 per cent of them were converted to Christianity from Buddhism.
Saying that some of the newly converted Christians youths are very unruly, the sources expressed their suspicion that they might have been involved in the murder.
Local people also alleged that Christian missionaries were converting poor Buddhists after luring them with money.
A murder case was filed with the local police yesterday against unidetified men.
