New Delhi: Police in Uttar Pradesh’s Siddharthnagar district are initiating legal action against a Hindu temple priest for breaking a Ganesh idol and falsely implicating two Muslim men for the crime.
On July 16, a Hindu priest identified as Krich Ram submitted a compliant at the Kathela Samaymata police station in the eastern UP district alleging that two men, Mannan and Sonu – both Muslims – had broken a Ganesha idol kept at his temple in Taulihawah village.
The priest also alleged that the two Muslim men had issued threats to him, telling him that they would not allow him to carry out puja and kirtan activities.
In the FIR, seen by The Wire, Krich Ram gave the incident a clear communal colour. Referring to the two accused, he said they “are Muslims.”
He also accused them of punching his wife and kicking her to the ground when she intervened.
The communal situation is volatile in the Bharatiya Janata Party-run state, with the administration often displaying severe anti-Muslim stance in its actions. Local police immediately jumped into action and registered an FIR against the two Muslim men. They were charged for causing voluntary hurt and defiling a place of worship with the intent to insult the religion of a class.
Deputy Superintendent of Police Darvesh Kumar, circle officer of Shohratgarh, under the jurisdiction of which the village falls, said the “seriousness” of the case was taken into account.
A team of local police, the circle and the local sub-divisional magistrate visited the spot to further investigate the matter. What they found was that it was not the two Muslim men but the priest himself who had broken the Ganesha idol. The police relied on the testimony of some children who were witness to the act. They then interrogated the priest.
“During investigation it came to light that when the idols were broken, three-four children aged 8-10 were playing there. The kids told us, ‘Sadhu baba broke the idol’. Believing them, we interrogated pujari ji in an intense manner,” said officer Kumar.
The priest told police that the two Muslim youth, Mannan and Sonu, had an existing dispute with him. To falsely implicate them in a criminal case, Krich Ram broke the idol and submitted a complaint to the police.
“He confessed to his crime. Legal action is being taken against the accused pujari,” said Kumar.
The situation on the ground is peaceful, he added.
