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Authorities in Bangladesh have arrested Haridas Chandra Tarani Das, the president of a temple in Gaibandha's Palashbari upazila, in connection with an alleged money laundering scheme totaling Tk 9.35 crore. The arrest was made by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID).

Haridas, 43, was apprehended at the Sri Sri Radha Gobinda and Kali Temple shortly after midnight on Sunday and subsequently brought to Dhaka. The CID's Organised Crime (financial crime) unit filed the case under the Money Laundering Prevention Act, 2012. According to the First Information Report (FIR), Haridas and two to three unidentified accomplices are accused of operating a "hundi" network between January 1, 2020, and June 30 this year.

The CID stated that its inquiry began after receiving allegations related to government jobs, transfers, hundi operations, and organized crime. Investigators discovered suspicious deposits amounting to Tk 9,35,32,451 across five bank accounts and four mobile wallets linked to Haridas. The CID alleges that Haridas lacks any known legitimate source of income, and these funds are proceeds from illicit hundi operations, which were then laundered to conceal their origin before being used to acquire assets.

Further allegations by the CID suggest Haridas used deception to gain trust, falsely identifying himself as a "protocol officer to the then prime minister" and employing edited photographs and fake call records. Investigators also noted a previous case filed against Haridas under the Digital Security Act and the Penal Code. The ongoing investigation relies on witness statements, banking documents, and other collected evidence. The temple itself has recently been in the news as the proposed site for an 80-foot statue of Lord Ram.