Police deployed at Baul artist Shafi Mondal’s house after killing of ‘pir’ in Kushtia

Police have been deployed at the house of popular Baul
singer Shafi Mondal in Daulatpur upazila of Kushtia following the killing of
self-proclaimed pir Abdul Rahman Shamim alias Kalandar Baba over allegations of
desecrating the Holy Quran.
Daulatpur
Police Station Officer-in-Charge Arifur Rahman confirmed the matter, saying the
deployment was made as a security measure.
"There
is no specific information of any attack threat against his house," the OC
said.
Baul artist Shafi Mondal said he has been staying in Dhaka for the past month
and is unaware of developments in his village home. He suggested his daughter
could provide more details.
Shafi
Mondal's daughter Lina Mondal said her father is a spiritual singer and often
visits different akhras for music-related activities. She said he had visited
the Darbar Sharif in question, where photos and videos featuring him were later
circulated online.
She
alleged that the viral footage was used to "create mob violence,"
which led to the killing of Shamim.
She
further said her father follows Lalon philosophy and is a practitioner of Lalon
Sain's teachings, adding that differences in belief systems may exist but they
respect religious values and Islamic practices.
Earlier on Saturday, Shamim alias Kalandar Baba was beaten and hacked to death
by a mob over allegations of Quran desecration. The Darbar Sharif was also
attacked, vandalised and set on fire during the incident. Three of his
followers were injured.
The victim, locally known as Kalandar Baba, was the head of the Darbar Sharif.
His
body was handed over after post-mortem at Kushtia 250-bed General Hospital and
later buried at South-West Filippur graveyard following a janaza on Sunday
afternoon.
No
case has been filed so far, police said. The deceased's elder brother Fazlur
Rahman said the family will decide on legal action after discussions.















