Burma: Looted Bangladeshi Buddha statues recovered from Muslim Rohingya camp

Posted by People of Shambhala

Three bronze Buddha statues looted from temples during communal riots at Ramu, Cox’s Bazaar, in Bangladesh, have been recovered from a Rohingya market. The statues were apparently on sale at Baktar market at the official Kutupalong Rohingya refugee camp.

Maj Sarwar-e Alam, a RAB officer at Cox’s Bazar’s RAB-7 camp said that Bangladesh’s Rapid Action Battalion recovered the statues last Wednesday. Two Rohingya men were also arrested in connection with the stolen Buddha statues.

One of the men was Jafar Alam Dipu, 35, the owner of the shop that was trying to sell the statues, and his associate Imam Hossain, 22.

According to BDNews, the statues were reportedly looted on September 29 and 30 during a communal riot at Ramu and Ukhia “over a Facebook post, which was thought to be derogatory to Islam.” A young Buddhist man was blamed for the post, although he denied the accusation, saying he had been tagged on Facebook by someone he did not know.

The attacks are believed to have been carried out by Rohingya refugees from neighboring Myanmar as well as Islamist extremists allied to Jamaat-e-Islami. It has also been speculated that some of the 500 Buddhist looted in the riots were being shipped for sale abroad. This is the third recovery of Buddhist artifacts.