Three, including priest, injured in crude blasts at Hindu temple, vicinity in Bangladesh’s Cumilla

Purported CCTV clip of incident, which occurred Saturday evening, shows masked individual leaving a bag in temple premises & fleeing, seconds before explosion. Probe underway, reports say.

Grabs from the CCTV footage, before and after the explosion. The purported clip is being heavily circulated on social media | X

New Delhi: A priest at a temple in Bangladesh’s Cumilla was reportedly injured after a masked assailant detonated a crude bomb inside the Kaligach Tala Kali Mondir Saturday evening, while prayers were underway.

The Daily Star reported that according to CCTV footage and witnesses, the attack occurred around 6.28 pm at the temple located in the South Thakurpara (Baganbari) area of Cumilla city. Devotees, including women and children, had gathered at the temple for a weekly Shani puja.

Visuals from the purported CCTV clip, which have since come under heavy circulation on social media, showed a masked individual entering the temple premises with a bag. The individual can be seen placing the bag near the altar, and later fleeing the premises seconds before the explosion occurred, causing panic among those present.

Witnesses said that while fleeing, miscreants also detonated two more crude bombs outside a Buddhist temple and an office building nearby, leaving two bystanders injured.

Keshob Chakraborty, the temple priest, was quoted as saying by The Daily Star that a white object fell in front of him before the room was filled with smoke.

All three injured were taken to hospital for treatment, the police reportedly said.

The Daily Star quoted police as saying that the bomb disposal unit was deployed at the scene, CCTV footage was collected, and the probe and the hunt for those involved is underway. The motive is yet to be determined.