The police on Friday detained four children in connection with vandalising idols at Ramcharan De Bari of Dakshin Changirgaon village at Ramganj upazila of Lakshmipur.
They are all students of Class III and Class IV at primary schools and madrassahs.
Witnesses alleged that a few idols prepared for Durga Puja were vandalised at Ramcharan De Bari at the Dakshin Changirgaon village by seven to eight children on Friday before jumma prayers.
Shikha Rani De and Wasima Rani De said that seven to eight children, including the boys, pushed the idols that were kept to dry in front of the temple.
鈥楾hey also vandalised the idols with sticks. When we saw them and screamed, the children involved in the attack ran away,鈥� they said.
The detained children told the police that they went to the houses of the Hindu temples before jumma prayers and pushed the idols in the hope of getting rewards [from Allah].
President of Upazila Hindu Buddhist Christian Oikya Parishad Aporba Kumar Saha said, 鈥楾here is an uncertainty whether we can perform Durga Puja without any problems this time.鈥�
He urged the administration to take necessary measures in this in this regard.
Lakshmipur superintendent of police Md Aktar Hossain said, 鈥楢fter talking to the witnesses, we came to know that seven to eight children vandalised the idols before jumma prayers.鈥�
鈥楾he detainees are aged between seven and thirteen years, and they are being interrogated over the incident,鈥� he added.
The top officials of the local administration, including district superintendent of police Md Aktar Hossain, additional deputy commissioner Priyanka Dutta, and upazila nirbahi officer Md Mamun, rushed to the spot after receiving the news.
Upazila Puja Celebration Parishad president Sameer Saha, and leaders of upazila units of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party and Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami also visited the spot.