2 youths arrested for firing at temple

Tribune News Service

Jammu, November 6

The police today arrested two youths, including a law student, for allegedly hurting the sentiments of people by firing at a temple in Trikuta Nagar.

The incident also triggered protests in the area with the angry residents demanding a high-level inquiry into it. They alleged that it was be a “deliberate attempt” to create “communal tension” in view of the ensuing Assembly elections, the first phase of which would be held on November 25.

The accused have been identified as Sayed Shah Bukhari and Yasir Hussain Shah, both residents of Sania, Surankot, in Poonch district.

“Around 11 am today, we received information that two youths in an Alto car fired at the glass structure of Shiv Temple located on the banks of a canal at Trikuta Nagar. Soon after the incident, the information was passed on to all police stations and checking points of the district. The car was intercepted at a checking point on the Akhnoor road and both the accused were arrested,” Uttam Chand, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), Jammu, told reporters here this evening.

Flanked by SP (South) Rahul Malik and other senior officers, the SSP said a .12-bore gun and six cartridges were recovered from the possession of the accused persons by a police party, led by a Sub-Divisional Police Officer (SDPO), while the vehicle had been impounded.

“The preliminary investigation reveals that the main accused, Sayed Shah Bukhari, who is a student of a private law college, has been undergoing psychiatric treatment for the past few months,” the SSP said, adding that he used the licensed weapon of his father to fire at the structure of the temple.

He said they were investigating the incident as why the youth having psychiatric problem was carrying a gun and why he specifically targeted a temple. “A FIR under Sections 307 (attempt to murder), 295 (defiling place of worship with intent to insult the religion of any class) and 295-A (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs) of the RPC has been registered against them,” he said.

To a query whether it was a “security lapse” as the “licensed weapon” was supposed to be surrendered before the police in view of the Assembly polls in the state, the senior police officer said they were in the process of collecting the “licensed weapons” from people and claimed it was not a security lapse.

“As elections have been announced a few days back, the process of collecting licensed weapons would be completed shortly,” the SSP said.

Meanwhile, nearly 100 residents, including youth and activists of the Bajrang Dal, gathered outside the Gandhi Nagar police station and demanded stern action against the accused.

They also alleged that the police was trying to shield the main accused by showing that he had some psychiatric problem.