He escaped by jumping from a building in the early morning hours.
In the sprawling capital of Dhaka, a young man who moves between the worlds of law and devotion found himself seized from an ordinary street, held through the night, and forced to choose between captivity and a dangerous leap into the dark. Subhash Deuri, a 25-year-old Hindu law student and part-time temple assistant, endured 26 hours of confinement and torture before escaping with broken bones — leaving behind a question that cuts deeper than the crime itself: was he taken for his faith, or simply for what little money his family could gather? As he recovers in a Dhaka hospital, investigators and religious leaders alike sit with the uncomfortable uncertainty of motive.
- A young Hindu student was snatched from a Dhaka street after a temple visit, held overnight, tortured, and ransomed for the equivalent of a modest monthly wage.
- His captors called his sister at 1 a.m. demanding 30,000 Taka — the family scrambled and paid 26,000, not knowing whether their brother was alive or dead.
- Deuri escaped not through rescue but through desperation — jumping from a building in the early hours, fracturing his leg and hip in a fall that may have saved his life.
- The temple he served rushed to distance itself from the incident, posting clarifications online, while a national religious council cautiously gathered facts before drawing conclusions.
- Police have opened an investigation but cannot yet answer the question haunting Bangladesh's minority communities: was this a crime of opportunity, or a crime of identity?
Subhash Deuri, 25, was making his way home through Dhaka's Swamibagh area by rickshaw on Monday evening, returning from a temple visit, when unidentified men abducted him and confined him inside a house. For the next 26 hours, he was held and tortured while his captors negotiated his life for cash.
Around 1 a.m. Tuesday, his sister Jaya received a ransom call demanding 30,000 Bangladeshi Taka. The family paid 26,000 — nearly all of it — transferring the money to an account the abductors provided. Before or shortly after the payment, Deuri made his own escape, jumping from part of the building in the early morning darkness. The fall fractured his leg and hip; he will need surgery. He is now being treated at Dhaka Medical College Hospital.
Deuri is a first-year student at Central Law College and occasionally serves as a stand-in priest at Jagannath University's central temple when the permanent priest is away. He lives in a rented room in Dhaka, far from his home district of Magura in Khulna. Officials at the temple were quick to note his informal role there, posting a public clarification that the incident bears no connection to the temple itself.
The deeper question — whether Deuri was targeted because he is Hindu — remains unanswered. Police are investigating without yet establishing motive. The Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council said it is still piecing together what happened before drawing any conclusions. For now, a young man heals from broken bones, and a community waits to learn whether his suffering was random cruelty or something more deliberate.
Subhash Deuri, a 25-year-old law student and occasional temple assistant, was abducted from a Dhaka street on Monday evening and held captive for roughly 26 hours. He escaped early Tuesday morning by jumping from a building, sustaining fractures to his leg and hip that will require surgery. He is now recovering at Dhaka Medical College Hospital.
Deuri arrived in the Swamibagh area by rickshaw around 8 p.m. on Monday after visiting a temple. What happened next remains unclear in its specifics, but according to police and his family's account, unidentified men took him and confined him in a house. The abductors called his sister, Jaya, at around 1 a.m. on Tuesday demanding 30,000 Bangladeshi Taka. They provided a phone number where the money should be transferred. After his family paid 26,000 Taka to the account, Deuri was dumped on a street in Old Dhaka. He had escaped by then, jumping from part of the building in the early morning hours—an act that left him injured.
Deuri is a first-year student at Central Law College in Old Dhaka. He also works part-time as an assistant priest at the central temple of Jagannath University, performing religious rituals when the permanent priest is unavailable. His relative, Dipu Barman, told local media that doctors have indicated Deuri will need surgery for his injuries. The young man lives in a rented apartment in the capital with a friend; he is originally from Magura district in Khulna, about 170 kilometers west of Dhaka.
Mofizur Rahman, the Officer-in-Charge of Wari Police Station, confirmed that Deuri reported being abducted and confined, then escaping by jumping from the building. Police are investigating the incident, though it remains unclear whether Deuri was targeted because of his faith or whether this was a straightforward criminal act.
Anik Kumar Das, member secretary of Jagannath University's central temple committee, moved quickly to clarify that Deuri is not a permanent priest at the temple. The permanent priest is Saikat Pathak, Das said, and Deuri only occasionally fills in during his absence. Das stated that the temple has already posted a clarification on its Facebook page and that the incident has no connection to the temple itself.
Kajal Debnath, spokesperson for the Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council, told media outlets that the organization is still gathering details about what happened and trying to determine whether this was simply a mugging or something more targeted. The question of motive—whether Deuri's Hindu faith made him a deliberate target—remains open as police continue their investigation.
Citações Notáveis
He is not our permanent priest. Our priest is Saikat Pathak. However, Subhash occasionally performs religious rituals in his absence.— Anik Kumar Das, member secretary of Jagannath University's central temple committee
We have heard of the incident and are trying to get the details and ascertain if it was just a case of mugging.— Kajal Debnath, spokesperson of the Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council
A Conversa do Hearth Outra perspectiva sobre a história
Why would someone kidnap a law student who works part-time at a temple? What made him a target?
That's the central question right now. Police don't know yet if it was about his faith or just opportunistic crime. He was in the wrong place at the wrong time, or he was deliberately chosen. The ransom demand was modest—30,000 Taka—which could suggest either.
The temple moved quickly to distance itself from him. Why?
Because in Bangladesh, there's real anxiety around Hindu-Muslim tensions. The temple wanted to make clear that Deuri wasn't their official priest, that he was just a student helping out occasionally. They were protecting themselves and the institution from being seen as a target.
He jumped from a building to escape. That's a desperate act.
Yes. He was held overnight, his family was being extorted, and at some point he decided jumping was better than staying. He broke his leg and hip doing it. That tells you something about how frightened he was.
The family paid less than demanded. Does that matter?
It might. They paid 26,000 instead of 30,000. Maybe they negotiated, maybe they paid what they could. But the abductors let him go anyway—or he escaped before they could enforce the full amount. We don't know which.
What happens next for Deuri?
Surgery, recovery, and waiting to see if police can identify his abductors. But there's also the question of whether he'll feel safe in Dhaka after this, whether his family will want him to stay.