After reports emerged that a crown gifted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Bangladesh’s Jeshoreshwari Kali Temple had been stolen, the Indian High Commission in Dhaka on Friday expressed deep concern and called for an investigation.
The crown, made of silver and gold, was stolen around 2.30 pm on Thursday, according to The Daily Star.
It was gifted to the temple on March 27, 2021, during Modi’s official visit to Bangladesh. The prime minister had also announced a grant for constructing a community hall and cyclone shelter attached to the temple.
“We express deep concern and urge Government of Bangladesh to investigate theft, recover the crown and take action against the perpetrators,” the embassy said on Friday.
The police told The Daily Star that they were reviewing the CCTV footage from the temple, which in Hinduism is considered one among the 52 shakti peethas, or seats, of the deity Kali.
Modi’s 2021 visit to Bangladesh coincided with the celebrations of the country’s Golden Jubilee of Independence and the birth centenary of its founding leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Modi had paid tribute at the Rahman’s mausoleum in Tungipara, making him the first foreign head of state to do so.
Rahman is the father of former Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who fled her country for India in August after student-led protests against a controversial quota scheme for government jobs, which started in July, snowballed into a broader agitation against her Awami League government.
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