A case has been registered against unidentified people for allegedly damaging an idol at a temple in the Kathua district, police said on Tuesday.
The incident reportedly took place in Dhamlar-Morha village in Mahanpur on the intervening night of Sunday and Monday, sparking a protest by the locals who blocked the main road demanding action against the culprits, they said.
“An FIR has been registered and a special investigation team constituted to probe the incident and bring the culprits to book,” Kathua senior superintendent of police Ramesh Chander Kotwal said.
He said some people have been detained for questioning and they are “hopeful of working out this case with the help of technical analysis in the coming days”.
Officials said some unidentified people entered the temple and allegedly damaged the idol.
As the news of the alleged vandalism spread, angry villagers led by district development council member Goldy Kumar blocked the main road. Senior police officers rushed to the spot and persuaded the protesters to disperse and assured them of a swift probe into the incident.
This was the third incident of temple vandalism in four months reported from the Jammu region.
A temple was vandalised by yet to be identified people in the Sidhra area of Jammu on April 8, followed by another similar incident at Vasuki Naag temple in the upper reaches of Doda district on June 5.
{{/usCountry}}A temple was vandalised by yet to be identified people in the Sidhra area of Jammu on April 8, followed by another similar incident at Vasuki Naag temple in the upper reaches of Doda district on June 5.
{{/usCountry}}“After Sidhra in Jammu district, Kailash Kund, Bhaderwah in Doda district, now a third incident of temple vandalism in Kathua district of #Jammu division. April, June & July, each month has seen desecration of a Hindu temple in 3 diff districts of Jammu,” wrote London-based social activist Manu Khajuria Singh, who is the founder of ‘Voice of Dogras’.