On Thursday, 10th October, miscreants vandalized an idol of Maa Durga at the Mari Mata temple in the Cantt police station area in Neelmatha, Lucknow, severing the hand of the idol. The incident came to the fore on 10th October morning when the temple priest came to the temple to perform the puja. The priest noticed the damage and immediately informed local residents, prompting a large crowd to gather at the scene.
As per reports, massive tensions arose when the devotees and the Hindu community got enraged by the desecration of the idol. Upon receiving information, the police arrived at the temple to calm the situation. Inspector Cantt, Gurpreet Kaur, stated that a case has been registered at the police station and all the efforts to identify and capture the accused persons are being made.
The miscreants, as per the police, used a grinder machine to sever the idol’s hand. The incident has hurt the Hindu community. ACP Cantt, Abhay Pratap Mall, said that the situation has been resolved and a new idol at the temple has been placed. He further sought four days, during which he said that the miscreants would be identified and arrested.
The incident reportedly comes a day after a piece of meat was found lying outside a temple in Lucknow’s Bazar Khala police station area. The Hindu devotees protested on seeing the meat and demanded an investigation into the case. The Police then took cognizance of the issue and removed the piece of meat from outside the Lambeshwar temple. Later it was found that a woman named Alima used to feed the dogs with meat and one of the pieces might have been dragged by the dog towards the temple. The woman in the given case was arrested.
