The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the police has arrested the widely discussed Haridas Chandra Taranidas from Palashbari, Gaibandha, in connection with a case filed under the Money Laundering Prevention Act.
He was apprehended on Sunday night from the Ram Mandir in Palashbari with the assistance of the Gaibandha district police.
The matter was confirmed on Monday afternoon by Gaibandha's Superintendent of Police (SP), Md Jasim Uddin.
Speaking to Prothom Alo over the phone, he stated that Haridas Chandra was arrested in a money laundering case filed in Dhaka. Approximately Tk 100 million in illegal cash transactions was found in his bank accounts. Furthermore, financial transactions were also conducted through hundi.
The SP added that the CID had been investigating the source of these funds and gathering various details since 2 July. Following the investigation, a case was filed against Haridas Chandra under the Money Laundering Prevention Act at the Uttara West police station in Dhaka on Sunday. He was arrested under that specific case and escorted to Dhaka by the CID the same night.
According to a press release issued by the CID, Haridas Chandra is a resident of Madhya Ramchandrapur village in the Palashbari upazila of Gaibandha. His father is Gopinath Taranidas. He passed his SSC exam from Hasbari Multilateral High School in 2006 and his HSC from a college in Dhaka in 2008. In 2010, he crossed into India illegally to pursue education and training before returning to the country.
The CID press release further stated that Haridas converted to Islam in 2019, adopting the name Tauhid Islam. Following this, he frequently misrepresented himself as a protocol officer to the then prime minister. Various allegations have been levelled against him, including helping others secure government jobs, arranging transfers, operating hundi channels, and participating in organised crime.
It also said that preliminary investigations into these allegations revealed that despite having no legitimate source of income, Tk 93.5 million had been deposited into his various bank and mobile financial service accounts. Concurrently, a nearly equivalent amount was withdrawn, which the CID flagged as suspicious.
The press release also noted that vast sums of money had been deposited into Haridas’s bank accounts by various individuals from different parts of the country, which did not align with his profession. During the investigation, records of another case against him at the Banani police station were uncovered. That case included charges under Section 24 of the Digital Security Act, alongside Sections 167, 168, 406, and 420 of the Penal Code.
As the CID’s preliminary investigation substantiated the allegations of domestic and foreign currency smuggling as well as organised crime, the case was officially filed. The investigation into his suspicious transactions remains ongoing.
Previously, on 8 November 2022, Haridas was detained alongside an associate from Banani in Dhaka during a joint operation by the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB). However, as no one filed a formal complaint against him at the time, he was sent to prison under Section 54 and was subsequently released.
According to law enforcement and local sources, following 5 August 2024, Haridas Chandra began modernising the old infrastructure of the Sri Sri Radha Govinda and Kali Mandir, which spans two acres of land in Madhya Ramchandrapur village. A 28-foot-tall statue of Shiva and a 53-foot-tall statue of Krishna have been constructed there. The Krishna statue was inaugurated by the Indian Assistant High Commissioner, Sri Manoj Kumar on 26 October 2025. An 81-foot-tall statue of Rama is currently under construction.
Additionally, information has surfaced regarding his purchase of approximately one bigha of land in 2019 in the Fulbaria area of the Mymensingh division to develop a resort.
Recently, protests erupted in Gaibandha under the banner of the “Conscious Citizens’ Forum”, demanding that Haridas Chandra's source of income be uncovered and that he be arrested.
Multiple human chains were formed, with the latest demonstration taking place yesterday afternoon at the intersection of the Palashbari upazila headquarters.
