6 arrested for raising slogans demanding Chinmoy Krishna’s release during Janmashtami procession

❐ Local correspondent

Police have detained six people for allegedly displaying placards and raising slogans demanding the release of Sanatani Jagran Jote spokesperson and ISKCON chief Chinmoy Krishna Das Brahmachari during a Janmashtami procession in Chittagong.

The procession started from Andarkilla intersection on Saturday afternoon, August 16, and passed through Laldighi, New Market and other important roads before ending at JM Sen Hall premises. Six people were arrested during the procession, said Abdul Karim, OC of the city’s Kotwali police station.

He said, “The Janmashtami Udjavan Parishad told us to be vigilant during the rally. That’s why we were on alert so that there was no chaos. We detained 6 people during the rally. We found placards demanding the release of ‘Chinmay’ from them. They have been brought to the police station for questioning. I will give details later.”

However, the OC did not say anything about where they were arrested.

Regarding this, RK Das Rupu, general secretary of the central committee of the Janmashtami Udjavan Parishad, said, “We are not aware of any information about the arrest. We are investigating the matter.”

Meanwhile, local BNP and Jamaat-Shibir activists claim that followers of Chinmoy Krishna were trying to create an unstable environment in the name of the Janmashtami procession. During the procession, some youths raised slogans demanding the release of Chinmoy Krishna.

They were asked whether they considered it a crime to demand the release of a detained person. They could not give a good answer.

It is worth mentioning that on October 31 last year, Firoz Khan, the general secretary of Chandgaon Mohra ward of BNP in Chittagong city, filed a case against Chinmoy Krishna Das Brahmachari and 19 others at Kotwali Police Station on charges of sedition. Later, Chinmoy Krishna was arrested from Dhaka in that case. On November 26 last year, when the bail was rejected and he was sent to jail, people from the Sanatan community protested in the Chittagong court premises.

After two and a half hours, the police dispersed the protesters by throwing sound grenades and took Chinmoy Das to jail. At that time, the protesters were attacked by BNP and Jamaat-affiliated lawyers and their party supporters. After driving the protesters up the hill from the court premises and leaving the court building area, they crossed the road and chased them to the Sweeper Colony on the other side, where they were beaten up.

When the sweeper entered the colony and attacked, the locals resisted. During this, Shibir leader and lawyer Saiful Islam Alif was killed by them. Chinmoy Krishna is still in jail after being arrested in a total of 5 cases related to that incident. Meanwhile, the police have also submitted a charge sheet to the court accusing Chinmoy in the Alif murder case.