Miscreants vandalise Hanuman temple in Varanasi, uproot Shivling

Some miscreants vandalised the idol of Lord Hanuman and uprooted the Shivling and Nandi at the Hanuman temple in Uttar Pradesh's Varanasi district. Search is on to arrest the miscreants.

Varanasi: Miscreants on Monday morning vandalised the idol of Lord Hanuman and uprooted the Shivling and Nandi in the south-facing temple of Hanuman in Khapadia Baba ashram located at Narapat Pur village in Chiraigaon block of Uttar Pradesh's Varanasi district. People, who reached the temple for darshan, were shocked to witness vandalised idols in the sanctum sanctorum.

On receiving the information, Chaubepur police station in-charge Rajesh Singh, along with the heavy police force, reached the spot. According to locals, some chaotic elements have done the audacity around 3 am on Monday. Police said the miscreants would be identified through the CCTV footage. During the investigation, it was also found that the miscreants took away the money from the donation box. "The miscreants will be identified based on CCTV footage. The idols will be installed in the temple with immediate effect. Search is on to arrest the miscreants," said Chaubepur police station in-charge Rajesh Singh.

Earlier, the UP police arrested a 25-year-old youth for vandalising the Shiva temple and breaking the Lord Shiva idol in Uttar Pradesh's Aligarh district in August last year. According to sources, a youth entered an ancient Shiva temple near the Rasalganj outpost of Thana Bannadevi with a hammer and damaged more than half a dozen idols. On being informed, the police, along with former BJP mayor Shakuntala Bharti, reached the spot and the police arrested the accused. A case has been registered against the youth under sections 452,427, 307, and 295 of IPC.