A Hindu student, who also works as a temple priest, was allegedly held captive and assaulted for money by unidentified persons in Bangladesh, a local media report said on Tuesday.

Subhash Deuri, a 25-year-old law student at Jagannath University in Dhaka, was targeted by unidentified persons late on Monday, according to Bdnews24 media portal.

It was not immediately clear if Deuri was targeted because of his faith.

Deuri was later found unconscious on the street in Old Dhaka area by his friends on the early hours of Tuesday, after which he was taken to Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH), the report said.

Mohammad Faruk, chief of the police outpost at DMCH, said he was admitted to the emergency department in critical condition around 7 am local time on Tuesday and is currently undergoing treatment.

However, no police complaint has been lodged yet.

Kajal Debnath, the spokesperson of Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council, told PTI, “We have heard of the incident and are trying to get the details and ascertain if it was just a case of mugging".

Deuri is from Magura district in Khulna, around 170 kilometres west of Dhaka, and lives in a rented apartment with a friend in the capital city, local media reported. Deuri’s roommate Durjoy Saha told the media portal that Deuri stepped out of his apartment around around 11:30 pm on Monday for some work.

“I received a call from his phone asking me to send him some money. I couldn't because I didn't have any,” said Saha.

The unidentified men also contacted Deuri’s relatives.

His sister, Jaya, told Bdnews24 that around 1 am on Tuesday, she received a call from his phone number. An unknown man demanded 30,000 Bangladeshi Taka.

One of the abductors gave her a phone number to transfer money, and he was dumped on the street in the Old Dhaka area after 26,000 Bangladeshi Taka was transferred to the account linked to that number.

Saha further said that an injured Deuri managed to tell him that he was physically and mentally tortured by the miscreants who stripped him and blackmailed him into asking his family members for money.

“We found his mobile phone and wallet missing,” said a friend of Deuri who took him to the hospital.

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