Jharkhand’s Hazaribagh tense after mentally-ill man ‘vandalises’ temple

Hundreds of locals blocked the Hazaribagh-Dhanbad national highway after the Mahamaya Mandir in Bishnugarh block was vandalised.

Vandalism at a Shiva temple in Jharkhand’s Hazaribagh on Friday morning allegedly by a mentally-challenged Muslim man led to stone pelting in four different parts of the district here, including a mosque and a temple campus, causing communal tension and a market shutdown, the police said.

Protesters burnt tyres to block the Dhanbad-Hazaribagh highway after vandalism at a temple at Banaso in Hazaribagh district on July 14, 2017. (Hindustan Times)

Irked over the alleged insult to religious sentiments, hundreds of locals blocked the Hazaribagh-Dhanbad national highway after the famous Mahamaya Mandir in Bishnugarh block was vandalised.

Located about 160 kilometers from capital Ranchi, the temple had a statue of Rajabali Dwarpal, which was allegedly damaged by 25-year-old Ayub Ahmad in the morning, local sources said.

Subsequent stone pelting was reported from Atthara Chowk, Main Road, the vicinity of a temple and near a mosque. The police had to resort to lathicharge in a few of the affected areas to disperse the mobs.