The man who was arrested on October 16th for vandalising an idol of Muthyalamma temple in Telangana’s Kurmaguda region in Hyderabad was identified as Salman Salim Thakur, a 30-year-old Mumbai resident. The Secunderabad police, who have been interrogating the accused said that he was self-radicalised after being motivated by videos of fugitive Islamic hate preacher Zakir Naik and became hostile toward Hindus.
Salman, as per the police, has also been involved in similar vandalism incidents in Mumbai in 2022.
The Hyderabad Police unveiled that he became self-radicalized as a result of watching social media videos featuring hardline Islamists including Zakir Naik and other controversial Muslim preachers.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (north zone) S Rashmi Perumal informed, “He started watching videos of Islamic religious preachers, like that of Zakir Naik and others, on Facebook and YouTube. He developed a radical bent of mind and hatred towards the idolatry practised by people of other faiths.”
He’s already been linked to similar incidents in Mumbai in September 2022, when he attacked locals after breaking into a Ganesh pandal while wearing shoes and Vasai-Virar in August 2024 of this year. He was in Hyderabad for a month-long course on personality development.
Salman Salim Thakur is a 30-year-old computer engineer, the alleged desecrator of a temple caught on CCTV in Secunderabad
— Rahul Shivshankar (@RShivshankar) October 17, 2024
City police claims that he is a follower of Zakir Naik and other hardline Islamists.
The accused was also involved in similar incidents in Mumbai in 2022… pic.twitter.com/WiabAx8fIe
“Salman came to Hyderabad in early October this year to attend a month-long personality development workshop conducted by popular Mumbai-based motivational speaker Munawar Zama, his associate Md Kafeel Ahmed, and their followers at Hotel Metropolis, in Regimental Bazar. Zama is the owner of English House Academy,” the senior official disclosed. The hotel’s property was unlawfully rented for the purpose of the course without official authorization.
Extremists vandalise Hindu temple, desecrate idol of the deity in Telangana
On the morning of 14th October, Secunderabad witnessed a spike in tensions when Salman broke into the Muthyalamma temple’s sanctum sanctorum and damaged the idol of Goddess Durga. Some of the devotees who were at the temple then thrashed him. Afterwards, the police apprehended him and brought him to a hospital, where he is being treated for internal injuries at the moment.
In the videos of the incident that went viral, the idol of the Goddess could be seen vandalized. Also, the outer area of the temple could be seen destroyed and vandalized.
The Muthyalamma temple idol has been vandalized in Secunderabad's Monda Market Division.
— Tulla Veerender Goud (@TVG_BJP) October 14, 2024
Hindus and their temples are not safe under #Congress rule. This is yet another attack on Hindu temples in Telangana in recent times.
The State Govt should act quickly and arrest the… pic.twitter.com/q5vsNqAPbn
A First Information Report (FIR) was lodged against him by the authorities under pertinent sections of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS). The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Hindu organizations, and local citizens launched an extensive protest in response to the instance.
Notably, Zakir Naik who is infamous for his radical views and inflammatory speeches has been a fugitive since 2016 and is facing money laundering charges in India. He then became a permanent resident of Malaysia. His sermons and lectures have influenced several young people to become radicals. Many others have attempted to join terrorist organizations such as the Islamic State as a result of his teachings including an assailant involved in the Dhaka cafe bombing in 2016. He is an admirer of terrorist Osama bin Laden and propagates that non-Muslims should be treated as inferiors according to the Sharia Law in Islamic countries.
