Man held for vandalising temple over ‘grudge against god’

A 28-year-old homeless man was arrested for allegedly vandalising a temple in west Delhi’s Paschim Puri Pocket 2 near Punjabi Bagh on Saturday

A 28-year-old homeless man was arrested for allegedly vandalising a temple in west Delhi’s Paschim Puri Pocket 2 near Punjabi Bagh on Saturday. The man allegedly told police that he attacked the temple to “settle a score with god”.

The temple that was vandalised was the Vaishno Mata Mandir, located near a residential colony in the locality. (Representational Image)

The incident briefly caused tension in the area with visuals of the vandalism making their way onto social media. Police, however, quickly denied any communal angle in the incident.

The temple that was vandalised was the Vaishno Mata Mandir, located near a residential colony in the locality.

Police said the man, who they identified as Vicky Mal, had lost his livelihood during the Covid-19 lockdown last year.

Additional deputy commissioner of police (west) Prashant Priya Gautam said the 47-year-old temple priest Ranjeet Pathak called the police at around 8.45 am and reported the vandalism. A police team was then immediately sent to the spot, he said.

“The priest told police that he had locked the temple gates at around midnight on Friday,” said Gautam. “When he opened it on Saturday, he found statues outside the temple slightly displaced, and bricks and stones, which were not there earlier, on the floor inside.”

Police said they scanned CCTV footage from nearby that showed a man outside the temple at around 12.30 am.

“He was seen throwing bricks at the statue outside. He also climbed the gate and threw stones inside. He was there for about 20 minutes and then left the area. He did not enter the temple,” said a senior police officer, who did not want to be named. “We identified the suspect as Vicky Mal, who had no home in Delhi, and caught him from near Raghubir Nagar drain. He was wearing the same clothes as seen in the CCTV footage.”

Additional DCP Gautam said they questioned Mal.

“He told us that he had come to Delhi with his father some years ago and they were scrap collectors and sellers,” said Gautam. “However, their business failed during the lockdown and Mal’s father returned to Bihar, while he stayed back. As he had no source of livelihood and no place to live, he had a grudge against god for giving him the life of a homeless person and vandalised the temple.”

Mal was arrested and booked under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) covering deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage reli­gious feelings and trespassing, at Punjabi Bagh police station.