A Shiva temple in the Cholapur village of the Varanasi district in Uttar Pradesh was attacked on 22nd August 2022. The Shivling in the temple was also vandalized in this attack. The police have registered a case in this matter and started an investigation to locate the unknown accused. The incident took place at Rajla village under the Cholapur Police Station Area.
Varanasi: Shiva temple vandalised, Shivling mutilated pic.twitter.com/vrhPNfIyBZ
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The attack was discovered when some of the local residents came to the temple for morning prayers on 23rd August 2022. At that time they noticed that the temple interiors and the Shivling were mutilated. The unknown attackers had vandalized the temple and the Shivling. Reportedly, they also found some objectionable items placed inside the temple. This incident was immediately reported to the nearby police station and a complaint was filed.
The local residents claimed that they had seen a person whose frequent visits to the temple in the recent past were suspicious. There was a massive protest against this attack on the Hindu temple and the protesting Hindus demanded the immediate arrest of the attackers. The locals also protested when police took way the objectionable item placed in the temple, alleging that police were removing evidence about the attack.
Additional SP Neeraj Pandey said that case has been registered for the incident, and raids are being conducted on the adjoining of Varanasi district, Azamgarh, Mirzapur, Chandauli and Jaunpur etc. to nab the culprit.
Attacks on Hindu temples have become common thing in the recent past. A Hindu temple in the Kanchanpur village of the Shergadh area in the Bareilly district was vandalized by Islamists on 11th August 2022 while taking processions of Moharram from the site. Uttar Pradesh police arrested 7 miscreants in this case.
The arrested Muslims were accused of chopping larger branches of the holy Pipal tree near a temple located at the Brahmadev Sthal, allegedly to widen the path for the Taziya procession during Muharram. During the process of cutting the branches, they allegedly vandalized the idol in the temple, threw away the donation box, and damaged the temple by using a bulldozer. Now this incident of vandalizing a Hindu temple has occurred in Varanasi – the Lok Sabha constituency of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Local residents are demanding quick arrests of the accused in this case.
