Sitamarhi: Tension grips Sitamarhi’s Parmanandpur village after unknown miscreants vandalised a few murtis installed at a Shiv temple, sparking anger among the locals. The incident has taken place under the Dumra police station limits.
The incident unfolded when a few unidentified people entered the temple premises on Wednesday night, February 26 and removed the murtis of Bhagwan Ganesh and Kartikey, throwing it out.
The matter came to light on Thursday morning, agitating the local villagers who subsequently informed the authorities about the incident. The miscreants have also torched an impermanent cottage made for the temple priest.
Learning about the incident, a police team and other administrative official quickly rushed to the spot. The officials tried calming the agitated locals, assuring them swift action into the case.
“Villagers allege that they suspect members of a particular community to have engaged in the act late Wednesday night after the Shivratri festivities were over,” informed a senior official of the police.
Nobody has seen any of the people entering the temple at the time of the incident. Technical experts have, therefore, been pressed into service to survey the spot and come up with some clues,” he added.
According to media reports this is the fifth such incident that has taken place in the locality within past two months, raising speculation about a possible plot to disrupt communal harmony. Additional forces have been deployed near the temple premise and the matter is currently being investigated by the authorities.
It is to be noted that police on February 13 had arrested 7 individuals who were part of an idol theft gang involved in theft of dozens of idols from Supaul districts. Those arrested were identified as Md Gaffar, Md Ishtehar, Md Shahadat, along with the key accused Md Hajrat alias Vijay. The other arrested individuals were Md Kalam, Atabul and Ali Adam.
The accused were apprehended after the police received a tip-off about them. The arrested accused were all said to be involved in over dozen cases of idol theft in Kosi and Seemanchal region of the state. They were booked under relevant sections of the BNS and sent to custody.
