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“Black Stone Murti, Gold and Silver Ornaments and Other Religious Artefacts Recovered from Multiple Locations”
Faridpur, Bangladesh: Police have recovered a stolen black stone Murti of Goddess Kali, along with gold and silver ornaments and several other religious idols, from the historic Old Kalibari Temple in Faridpur. Four Islamists have been arrested in connection with the theft.
The recovery was made within six days of the incident, Faridpur District Police said during a press briefing held on Sunday, September 27. The briefing was addressed by Faridpur Superintendent of Police Shahriar Mohammad Miazi.
According to the police and the case statement, the theft took place after the temple was closed on the night of September 19. At around 10:30 pm, after completing the evening rituals, temple priest and committee president Kushal Chakraborty put the Kali Murti to rest and locked the temple’s iron gate, shutter, wooden front door and secondary gate before leaving.
The following morning, September 20, Chakraborty found that all the locks had been cut open. Upon entering the temple, he discovered that the approximately 20-kg black stone Murti of Goddess Kali was missing. Gold ornaments attached to the Murti, silver ornaments and several brass Murtis were also found to have been stolen.
A case was subsequently filed at Faridpur Kotwali Police Station under Sections 457 and 380 of the Bangladesh Penal Code.
Following instructions from the Superintendent of Police, multiple teams comprising officers from the Kotwali Police Station, Detective Branch and the Sadar Circle, along with the investigating officer, began an investigation. Police used information technology, intelligence inputs and confidential sources to trace the suspects.
The four arrested individuals have been identified as Asaduzzaman Saddam (38) of Buraich village in Alfadanga, his mother Sajeda Begum (65), Al Amin Molla (24) of Kandakul village in Boalmari, and Atiar Rahman of the Boalmari area.
According to police, gold and silver ornaments stolen from the temple, along with six brass Murtis, were recovered after Sajeda Begum allegedly provided information about their location. The items had reportedly been concealed beneath the soil inside the kitchen of her house.
The stolen black stone Kali Murti was subsequently recovered after information provided by Asaduzzaman Saddam and Al Amin Molla. Police said the Murti had been buried underground behind a house in the Rupapat area of Boalmari.
Police also raided a jewellery shop in the gold market of Boalmari following information provided by Saddam. According to police, shop owner Atiar Rahman disclosed that some of the stolen ornaments—including earrings and a forehead ornament—had been melted down. Police recovered approximately eight annas of gold believed to have been obtained from the melted ornaments.
The recovered items were seized in the presence of witnesses, police said.
According to the original complaint, the stolen black stone Kali Murti weighs approximately 20 kilograms and was estimated to be worth around Tk 1 crore. The gold ornaments attached to the Murti weighed approximately five bhori and were valued at around Tk 11.5 lakh. The complaint also mentioned the theft of several brass Murtis and approximately 30 bhori of silver ornaments.
Police further said that Asaduzzaman Saddam has more than 10 previous cases against him involving alleged theft, robbery, dacoity and idol theft. Al Amin Molla is also reportedly facing more than eight cases of a similar nature.
Superintendent of Police Shahriar Mohammad Miazi said the incident initially appeared to be a “clueless” case because investigators had no specific lead. However, through the use of technology, intelligence gathering and coordinated operations, police were able to identify those allegedly involved and recover the Kali Murti and most of the stolen property within six days.
The recovered Murti, ornaments and other religious artefacts have been incorporated into the case evidence. Legal proceedings against the arrested individuals are underway.
