Lord Hanuman, Shiva's idols destroyed in Varanasi temple

The idols of Lord Hanuman, Lord Shiva and Nandi were destroyed by miscreants at a temple in Varanasi.

Lucknow, Feb 07: Unidentified men destroyed the idols of Lord Hanuman and Shiva in Narapat Pur village, Chairaigaon Block, Varanasi district, Uttar Pradesh. The incident occurred in the wee hours of Monday.

According to reports, the miscreants have uprooted and desecrated A Shivling, Trishul, and a Nandi idol and looted the donation box.

A devotee named Sitaram Yadav noticed the broken idol when he arrived at the temple to pay obeisance. Soon many others joined him and started protesting against the vandalism of the Hindu idols. The localities then alerted the cops about the incident.

The cops assured the protestors of nabbing the culprits and collected the CCTV footage. They also pacified them saying the idols will be restored in the same place.

"During the investigation, it was also found that the miscreants took away the money from the donation box. The miscreants will be identified based on CCTV footage. The idols will be installed in the temple with immediate effect. Search is on to arrest the miscreants," Chaubepur police station in-charge Rajesh Singh is quoted as saying by OpIndia.

According to the Varanasi police, a case has been filed under the relevant sections of the IPC at the Choubepur police station and the cops are taking measures to capture the miscreants.

In a similar incident, thieves broke into Dih Baba temple in the Shivpur police station jurisdiction which is close to Lord Hanuman temple. The miscreants broke 10 donation boxes and stole over Rs 10 lakh.

It may be recalled that a youth named Yakub was caught red-handed after he tried to vandalise an idol of a deity at Lord Shiva temple in the Titawi village in Baghara Block in Muzaffarnagar District of Uttar Pradesh. The localities had caught him and handed him over to the cops.

Varanasi, also known as Banaras or Kashi, is a sacred place for Hindus located on the banks of the River Ganges. Apart from ancient temples, the city has numerous ghats, making it a popular destination for pilgrims.