VHP, Bajrang Dal protestors clash with police at Bangladesh High Commission

New Delhi: Holding saffron flags and shouting slogans against the lynching of a Hindu man in Bangladesh, hundreds of supporters of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and the Bajrang Dal broke barricades and clashed with police near the fortified Bangladesh High Commission on Tuesday.

Protesters forced several barricades down as police struggled to contain the surge.

Earlier in the day, security was beefed up outside the embassy ahead of the protest by VHP and Bajrang Dal over the lynching of a Hindu man in the neighbouring country.

The area had been secured with three layers of barricading and more force from the police and paramilitary.

Police struggled to keep the demonstrators at bay as they tried to climb over barricades, with a sea of banners and placards bobbing in the air, reading denunciatory messages against the Bangladesh government.

A placard read: “Hindu rakt ki ek ek boond ka hisaab chahiye (Each drop of blood of a Hindu must be accounted for).”

On December 18, Dipu Chandra Das, a 25-year-old garment factory worker, was lynched to death by a mob and his body set on fire over alleged blasphemy in Baluka in Mymensingh.

According to the police, Das was first beaten up by a mob outside the factory over blasphemy allegations and hanged from a tree. The crowd then left the body of the deceased on the side of the Dhaka-Mymensingh highway and later set it on fire.

“A Hindu man was brutally assaulted and killed. We are requesting our government to take strict action against those who are behind the killing of a Hindu man. We are also protesting that even the Bangladesh police must take strict action against those who are behind the killing,” a protestor said.

Another said, “We in India consider every community as our brothers and sisters. Similarly, every Hindu in any other country must be treated.”

This is a developing story; more details are awaited.