Home Minister Claims Monk's Murder was an "Isolated Incident"

Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal

Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, has alleged the hacking of a Buddhist monk in Bandarban’s Naiangchori is a ‘stray incident’ and has been conducted by the monk’s family members.

On Friday night, Mong Shou Iu, 70, principal of the Chakpara Buddha Bihar was slaughtered in his own temple while he was meditating.

Locals came to know about his dead body and informed police on Saturday morning.

The northern districts of Bangladesh have recently seen such violence against Christian and Hindu priests; however, this is the first such case in the hilly regions of Chittagong.

Police had found traces of militant links in the priests’ murders, but they could not immediately tell who are linked to the monk’s murder.

On Saturday morning, while in a programme in the Rajshahi University, Home Minister Asaduzzaman replied to a query from the reporters that the killing of the monk is an ‘isolated incident’.

“I think the relatives of him (monk) are behind the murder,” the minister said.

Mong Shou Iu, 70, principal of the Chakpara Buddha Bihar

The minister said these after attending a programme arranged by the students and teachers of Rajshahi University in order to protest the murder of their English Department’s teacher Professor AFM Rezaul Karim Siddique.

Rezaul was hacked to death near his own house in Rajshahi and police think extremists were behind the murder.

“We have been able to put every murder through trials after thorough investigations. Only the Shagor-Runi murder has not been put through trial yet,” the Home Minister said while meeting the teachers and students of Rajshahi University.

Shagor Sarwar and Meherun Runi, the media personnel couple were murdered back in 2012. Investigations of this case has not been completed yet.