The central bank has frozen the bank accounts of Chinmoy Krishna Das, spokesperson of the Bangladesh Sammilit Sanatani Jagran Jot, and 16 members of ISKCON Bangladesh.

On Thursday, the central bank's financial intelligence agency, the Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU), sent instructions to the country's banks and financial institutions in this regard.

A senior official of the BFIU confirmed this information.

Apart from Chinmoy Krishna Das, the 16 members of ISKCON Bangladesh whose bank accounts have been frozen are - Kartik Chandra De, Anik Pal, Saroj Roy, Sushanta Das, Biswa Kumar Singha, Chandidas Bala, Joydev Karmakar, Lipi Rani Karmakar, Sudhama Gaur Das, Laxman Kanti Das, Priyatosh Das, Rupan Das, Rupan Kumar Dhar, Ashish Purohit, Jagadish Chandra Adhikari and Sajal Das.

The letter states that the bank accounts of all business entities owned by the individuals whose accounts have been frozen will also be blocked. No one will be able to make any transactions with these accounts for the next 30 days. If necessary, the period for suspending transactions will be extended.

The relevant section of the Prevention of Money Laundering Rules will be applicable to this order to suspend transactions, the BFIU letter states. The letter provides the names and national identity card information of the individuals whose accounts have been suspended.

The instructions sent to banks and financial institutions also state that the account-related information or documents such as account opening forms, KYC and transaction statements of the accounts that have been suspended must be sent to the BFIU within two working days from the date of the letter.