Two arrested for offering meat at B’luru temple, say police

On February 22, the two persons went to the temple and gave the garland to the temple assistant, requesting him to garland the idol. In the evening, when the priest took the garland to put on the idol, a piece of meat fell from the plastic packet. Immediately, the priest threw it out, and the devotees purified the temple, a police officer said.

Police arrested two people on charges of hurting religious sentiments by offering meat in the garland to a deity in Dodaballapur Taluk in Bengaluru Rural district on Saturday, police officials said.

Police arrested two people on charges of hurting religious sentiments by offering meat in the garland to a deity (Agencies/Representative use)

Police identified the accused as Raju (34), a native of Kambalahalli in Kolar district and Somashekar (32), a native of Whitefield in Bengaluru.

This is the second time the duo attempted to garland an idol of god at Shani Mahatma temple in Chikka Madurai village under Doddabelavangala police station limits, a police official said.

On February 22, the two persons went to the temple and gave the garland to the temple assistant, requesting him to garland the idol. In the evening, when the priest took the garland to put on the idol, a piece of meat fell from the plastic packet. Immediately, the priest threw it out, and the devotees purified the temple, a police officer said.

Though the duo was seen in the CCTV footage, the police were unable to trace them. On Saturday, the two went to the Shani Mahatma temple again and handed over a plastic cover to the temple assistant. The alert temple assistant opened the plastic cover and found the meat in the garland, a police officer said.

While the accused tried to flee from the spot, the assistant raised an alarm, after which people caught them and handed them over to the police.

“Due to my earlier experience, I was cautious as meat would make the temple unholy. Soon after receiving the packet of garland, I opened it and found meat pieces in it. The devotees present in the temple caught the two,‘’ temple assistant Venkatesh said.

‘’The temple sees thousands of devotees. Every day, hundreds of devotees visit the temple, pray and provide offerings. They even make religious vows and offer to god after their wish is fulfilled,’’ Virupakshaiah, a devotee, said. “Such an incident has never occurred in the past. It has shocked us, and our religious feelings have been hurt. The police should take stringent action against such miscreants,” he said.

“Based on the CCTV footage, we were searching for the accused but could not find him. But the alert temple staff caught the accused,” Doddabelavangala police inspector M N Harish said.

He said that upon interrogation, the accused said they offered meat in the garland as the ‘Shani god’ would not trouble them in the future. “They got advice from a priest after they failed in many aspects of life. We have registered a case under IPC 295(A) (intended to outrage religious feelings)and investigating. We have preserved the meat, but could not find which animal meat it is. Hence, we have sent it for laboratory examination,” he added.