The Jharkhand police have arrested a person named Shafi Ahmed for vandalising the idol of Lord Hanuman at a temple in Hazaribagh, Jharkhand.
According to the reports, 20-year-old youth identified as Shafi Ahmed had allegedly vandalised an idol of Lord Hanuman at a temple on February 12 in Hazaribagh, after communal tensions had gripped the area following the recent murder of a teenager Rupesh Pandey. Pandey was murdered by a mob of Muslims on February 6, 2022.
Superintendent of Police Manoj Ratan Chothe said that the accused had confessed before police that he committed the crime. The accused has been sent to judicial custody, he added.
Hazaribagh: “On 12th feb, a sculpture of God Hanuman was vandalised. Jharkhand police has arrested Shafi Ahmed for vandalising sculpture of God Hanuman and Ahmed has accepted his crime” pic.twitter.com/OY2JySqvdG
— Facts (@BefittingFacts) February 18, 2022
Local police have informed that the statue vandalisation had further flared up communal tension in the area and section 144 has been imposed following the incident.
The police officer had said the incident of statue vandalisation had led to severe protests on GT Road on National Highway-2.
Rupesh Pandey murder case:
A tense situation was created in Jharkhand’s Hazaribagh after a Muslim mob killed a 17-year-old boy Rupesh Pandey on February 6 in a clash during the immersion procession of the idol of goddess Saraswati.
The 17-year old son of Sikandar Pandey was part of the religious procession, which faced unexpected opposition from the mass of Muslims while passing from an area called Lakhna Dulmaha Imambada of the Nai Taand village in Hazaribagh. The mob engaged in the ruckus with the Hindu devotees. In this, Rupesh Pandey was badly beaten. He was declared dead when taken to the hospital.
A case was registered in the Barhi police station against 27 attackers. Besides, 100 other unknowns have been booked in this case. Mohammad Aslam, Mohammad Anis, Mohammad Kaif, Mohammad Gufran, Mohammad Chand, Mohammad Osama, Mohammad Ehtam, and Mohammad Nahid have been named as the main accused in the case.
Jharkhand govt registers case against Hindu activists for carrying out peaceful protest
After the mob lynching incident of Hazaribagh, Jharkhand, the Hemant Soren-led government had stoked another controversy by taking action against Hindu groups protesting against the murder and demanding justice.
The Jharkhand Police had registered an FIR against the protesters who had organised a candle march in Chatra condemning the murder. Thousands of people, including the members of Bharatiya Janata Party, BJYM, Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, Vishwas Hindu Parishad, had protested against the brutal killing of Pandey.
Several youths in Chatra had taken out a candle march on February 10 and demanded the government action against the culprits. The youths involved in the rally had said that the state government was giving protection to the accused of mob lynching and warned that if strict action was not taken against the culprits, the protests would be more aggressive.
In response, the Jharkhand government had booked a case against the peaceful protestors for demanding justice.
