3 held for vandalising Lord Shiva idol

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, August 23

The Amritsar rural police have arrested three persons in connection with the vandalisation of an idol in Shivpuri cremation ground in the Rajasansi area late on Monday evening.Those booked were identified as Rajinder Singh alias Raju, Prithipal, a watchman at Shivpuri and Niranjan Singh alias Nanji.

They had enacted a drama that several persons had barged into the cremation ground and vandalised an idol of Lord Shiva.

Parampal Singh, SSP, Amritsar rural police, said Raju and Nanji used to clean the idol every Monday. He said on Monday evening, Raju and Nanji consumed liquor in Shivpuri while Prithipal Singh, who was deputed to look after the cremation ground in the night, had left the scene. Nanji went to sleep after consuming liquor while Raju started cleaning the idol.

During cleaning, he lost his balance and tried to hang on to the idol (the snake around the idol’s neck). Due to this, the idol was broken. Panicked over this, he informed Nanji about this. They planned a story and broke several pots and snapped electricity wires. In the morning, when Prithipal came there they told him about the incident. “It was Prithipal’s duty to stay in Shivpuri during the night. However, he used to go away after switching on the lights. He also got scared,” said the SSP.

He also became part of the planned story and raised the alarm that some unidentified persons had vandalised the idol. The SSP said the police have booked the trio for hurting religious sentiments and slapped on them other relevant sections of the IPC.