Bangladesh orders freezing of bank accounts of 17 ISKCON members

The financial authorities of Bangladesh, on November 29 ordered the freezing of bank accounts of 17 individuals associated with ISKCON, including that of its former member Chinmoy Krishna Das.

According to media reports, Bangladesh Bank's Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU) sent these directives to different banks and financial institutions on Thursday, suspending all types of transactions in these accounts for a month, the Prothom Alo newspaper reported.

The BFIU asked the banks and financial institutions to send account-related information, including updated transaction statements of all the accounts of all types of businesses owned by these 17 individuals within the next three working days, it said.

Das, a spokesperson for the Bangladesh Sammilita Sanatani Jagran Jote, was arrested from Dhaka’s Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport on Monday in a sedition case. He was denied bail and sent to jail by a Chattogram court on Tuesday. A lawyer was killed in a clash between security personnel and supporters of the Hindu leader.

Das was a former spokesperson of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) in Bangladesh.