Authorities detained three men in connection with the late-night assault and theft at De Mazenod Catholic Church in Dhaka, the latest in a string of attacks on Bangladesh’s small Christian minority.
Police in Bangladesh arrested three Muslim men on April 30 in connection with a late-night assault on an Oblate missionary and a robbery at a Catholic church in the countryʼs capital, authorities said.
Officers raided the area on the night of April 30 and detained the suspects, according to Tanvir Ahmed, deputy commissioner of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police. Ahmed said the men had prior robbery cases against them and that police were continuing to investigate.
“The Christian community was celebrating Easter Sunday a month ago and the robbers thought the father had extra money, so they committed this robbery,” Ahmed told EWTN News.
According to police, the men arrived at the church on a rickshaw; the driver kept watch outside while two others scaled the perimeter wall, cut through a grille, and entered the priestʼs bedroom.
The predawn assault
The arrests follow an attack at around 2:30 a.m. on April 28 on Father Subash Pulok Gomes, 51, an Oblate missionary who lives in the compound of De Mazenod
