One arrested over demolition of Sai Baba statue

Police said the arrested man, identified as Padam Panwar, was purportedly seen in a video clip, which was widely circulated on social media, proclaiming that Sai Baba is a Muslim and not a God.

New Delhi: The Delhi Police on Tuesday said they arrested a 50-year-old man in connection with the demolition of a statue of Shirdi Sai Baba in a temple in South Delhi’s Shahpur Jat last week. Police said the arrested man, identified as Padam Panwar, was purportedly seen in a video clip, which was widely circulated on social media, proclaiming that Sai Baba is a Muslim and not a God.

“Panwar was arrested after his role was confirmed. He has been sent to jail,” the officer added. (HT Archives. Representative image)

Panwar, a resident of Shahpur Jat, was arrested on Monday, a day after police registered a case under Indian Penal Code sections 153 A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc., and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony) and 295 A (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage reli­gious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or reli­gious beliefs), said a senior police officer who did not want to be named.

The officer said that police began enquiring into the demolition after receiving a complaint from local devotees on April 3. The first information report was registered on April 4. “Panwar was arrested after his role was confirmed. He has been sent to jail,” the officer added.

Police said that during questioning, some people claimed that they intended to replace the statue as it was found to be cracked. However, when HT contacted Panwar, he had said that he decided to get it removed as Sai Baba was a Muslim. “I personally got the statue installed in 2009. But now that I got to know that Sai Baba was a Muslim, I got the statue removed. Sai Baba was no God, he was a common man,” Panwar, who is in the real estate business, had said.

In the video doing the rounds of social media, a man is purportedly seen using tools to demolish the statue after which Panwar comes to the fore, and says, “This temple was constructed by my ancestors even before Shirdi Baba was born. But I have got to know he is Muslim. He cannot share the same space that is occupied by Hindu gods.”

A video also emerged in which Panwar is purportedly seen in the company of Yati Narsinghanand Saraswati -- a priest of Dasna Devi temple in Ghaziabad -- who was booked by the Delhi Police on Saturday for allegedly making inflammatory comments against the Prophet at a press conference in the national capital.