A BNP leader was granted bail in a case of idol vandalism within hours of his detention in Barisal on Sunday.
However, the members of local Hindu community criticised the indictment and said it was done by police to harass him since he had not been accused in the case filed by the complainant.
The case was filed after unidentified miscreants on January 23 damaged four idols of a temple at the Maddhya Rajarchar area of Charmonai union in Barisal Sadar upazila, about eight kilometres off the divisional city.
Police lodged a general diary following the incident while Bijoy Krishna Haldar, president of Maddhya Rajarchar Durga-Kali Mandir, lodged a case without accusing anyone in particular.
In his case file, Bijoy Krishna only mentioned that he found the idols partially damaged when he entered the temple on Thursday.
However, police on Saturday night arrested Abdus Salam Rari, president of Charmonai-BNP unit and a former UP chairman, from his home and pressed against him charges of idol vandalism.
He was produced before the chief metropolitan magistrate’s court on Sunday morning and subsequently granted bail upon his prayer.
In a statement read out before the court, the complainant said he did not mention any name in the case and had therefore no objection to Rari’s being bailed out.
Later, prominent members of the Hindu community at a press conference criticised police’s bringing charges against Rari and observed that it was done intentionally to harass him.
In this regard, Shakhawat Hossain, officer in charge of Kotwali police station, told the Dhaka Tribune that Rari had been arrested as a “suspect”.