A group of people set fire to an ISKCON temple in Dhaka district in Bangladesh in the early hours of Saturday.
While ISKCON Bangladesh said it was a 'family temple' belonging to an ISKCON devotee, the organisation's Kolkata office said 'ISKCON Namhatta Centre' was targetted.
The attack in Dhour village, under Turag police station in Dhaka district, took place in the early hours of Saturday.
A Turag police station official said that manhunt has been launched to track down the culprits.
The temple was set on fire after lifting the tin roof, said Charu Chandra Das Brahmachary, general secretary of International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), Bangladesh.
"The fire was, however, doused quickly but an idol was damaged and curtains burnt," he added.
ISKCON Kolkata vice president Radharamn Das in India said to PTI that 'vandals set ablaze idols inside the temple at the Namhatta property'.
'ISKCON Namhatta Centre burned down in Bangladesh. The deities of Sri Sri Laxmi Narayan and all items inside the temple were burned down completely.
Early morning between 2-3 am, miscreants set fire to the Shri Shri Radha Krishna Temple and the Shri Shri Mahabhagya Lakshmi Narayan Temple, which are falling under the Hare Krishna Namhatta Sangha, located at Dhour village, under Turag Police Station, Dhaka district," Das mentioned on X.
'The fire was started by opening the tin roof at the back of the temple and by petrol or octane,' he wrote in the post and also gave the address.
The relations between India and Bangladesh came under strain after the interim government headed by Muhammad Yunus came to power after deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina fled the country on August 5 following a student-led protest.
The relations have further deteriorated in the last few weeks due to continued attacks on Hindus and especially after the recent arrest of Hindu monk Chinmoy Krishna Das, a former member of ISKCON Bangladesh and now, a spokesperson for the Bangladesh Sammilita Sanatani Jagran Jote organisation.
The Iskcon Kolkata vice president also expressed concern over Chinmoy Krishna Das's safety following his denial of bail and the violent attacks.
His arrest in a sedition case from Dhaka's Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport on November 25 had triggered demonstrations by supporters of the monk.
An assistant government prosecutor, Saiful Islam Alif, was killed during a protest in Chattogram after the monk was denied bail on November 26.
The attacks on Hindus in Bangladesh have sparked protests in India. The Bangladesh foreign ministry summoned the Indian envoy recently and lodged protest over the storming of the Bangladeshi mission in Agartala by a group of protesters.
Meanwhile, the Barak Valley Hotel and Restaurant Association in the Indian state of Assam announced that it would not entertain any Bangladesh national till the attacks on Hindus and other minorities in the neighbouring country stop.
Barak Valley comprises three districts - Cachar, Sribhumi (formerly Karimganj) and Hailakandi - along a 129-km-long border with Bangladesh's Sylhet region.
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