There was outrage among the people as some miscreant had vandalised the Shivling at Pipleshwar Mahadev Temple on Chhola road of the State capital. A stone has also been recovered from the spot.

The police have nabbed a suspect based on the CCTV footage of the area. Meanwhile, Hindu organisations also reached the spot as soon as they got information about the incident and protested strongly. However, the matter was settled only after the police gave them assurance of action against the accused at the earliest. DCP Zone-3 Ramsnehi Mishra said that the suspect has been identified. The accused is said to be a resident of Karond. A case has been registered against him. The matter is very serious, but it is not a communal matter. The whole matter is being investigated. The identity of the accused will also be disclosed soon. The incident came to light at 6 am on Wednesday when devotees reached the temple to offer prayers. On coming to know about the incident, a large number of Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal workers reached the spot and raised slogans. Along with this they said, if the accused was not arrested till 5 pm on Wednesday, then they threatened to stage a sit-in at the spot. Heavy police force has been deployed in the area to avoid untoward incident.

Hanumanganj Police Station Incharge Mahendra Singh Thakur told ‘The Hitavada’ that there is a Shiva Temple near Sardar Patel School located on Chhola Road. The idol of Shiva God is installed in it. The gate of the temple was closed after worship as usual at 11 pm. The gate of this temple was not locked.

On Wednesday morning, when people reached the temple to worship, they saw that someone had damaged the water of Shivling with a stone. On coming to know about this, BJP leader Harinarayan Mali, who lives near the temple, reached the spot and informed the police about the incident. Police force was sent to the spot as soon as the information was received. The incident took place between 11 pm and 6 am.

On the complaint of Harinarayan Mali, a case was registered and the suspect was nabbed for hurting religious sentiments.

Harinarayan Mali said that hundreds of workers of Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal had reached the spot as soon as the incident was reported. He added that there is great anger in the Hindu society due to the incident.