Hindus in Bangladesh are in shock following the suspension of worship at the capital’s Dhakeshwari National Temple, the most important place of worship for the minority community in the country, after a theft today.

Gold and silver ornaments and Taka 4.5 lakh have been stolen from the temple, said Tapan Bhattacharya, the in-charge of the state-owned Dhakeshwari Temple.

Worship at the ancient Dhakeswari National Temple has been suspended for an indefinite period following the theft, the private bdnews24 online reported today.

Known as the ‘National Temple’, Dhakeshwari means “Goddess of Dhaka”.

Babul Devnath, the Secretary of Dhaka Metropolitan Worship Committee, expressed deep concern over the incident as it was the third major temple where theft has taken place in less than a month. The Hindus in the country are in shock.

“A theft took place at Baradeswari Kali Temple on December 12 and another at Jaykali Temple on December 22. We demand proper investigations into all these incidents,” he was quoted as saying in the report.

Bhattacharya said Ratan Chakrawarty and Nitya Gopal Chakrawarty, the priets at Dhakeswari, had locked the temple around 9 p.m. on Saturday.

Around 6 a.m. today they found three of the four locks missing, while the remaining one was broken.

Mohammad Khurshid Alam, the Deputy commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police, said they had launched a probe into the theft.

Hinduism is the second largest religion in the country, constituting nearly 10 per cent of the population.

There are over 12 lakh Hindus in Bangladesh.