Chinmoy Krishna Das Brahmachari.
Credit: X/@RadharamnDas
Dhaka: Bangladesh police on Monday arrested Chinmoy Krishna Das Brahmachari, a leader of the Hindu group Sammilita Sanatani Jote, from the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport area in Dhaka.
"Das was detained in line with a request from (regular police)," spokesman of the Police's Detective Branch Rezaul Karim said.
Karim said Das would now be handed over to the concerned police station for subsequent legal procedure.
Das was detained at the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport, Karim said, without giving details of the charges for which he was arrested.
Bengali-language newspaper Prothom Alo reported that Das was a leader of ISKCON, which recently expelled him.
ISKCON leaders in Bangladesh were not immediately available for comments, but the Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council condemned the detention, saying it could affect the country's image abroad.
Citing Sanatani Jagran Jote's key organiser, Gaurang Das Brahmachari, Bdnews24 news portal said that Das was supposed to go to Chattogram by air from Dhaka.
On October 30, a case was filed against 19 people, including Das, at Chattogram's Kotwali Police Station, accusing them of disrespecting Bangladesh's national flag in Chattogram's New Market area during a rally of the Hindu community.
Meanwhile, hundreds of people from the Hindu community took to the streets at the Cheragi Pahar intersection in the port city, demanding the immediate release of Das.
Similarly, the Hindu community members in the capital blocked the Shahbagh intersection late in the evening, protesting the arrest.