Tension gripped in Madhya Pradesh‘s Narmadapuram district after unidentified miscreants painted a five-decade-old shrine with saffron colour on Saturday night, Free Press Journal reported.
The miscreants also damaged a portion of the shrine.
The incident came to light around 6 am when a few local youths spotted the shrine coated with saffron paint and found that its door had been broken open, Indian Express reported.
Even previously the shrine was targetted. Irked over the incident, Muslims blocked the state highway-22 and demanded the arrest of the accused.
They lifted the blockade only after police and the district administration reached the spot and assured action, The Indian Express reported.
“After reaching, we realised that the wooden doors of the shrine were broken open and dumped in Maru river. Not only the minaret, but also the tomb and the entrance were coated in saffron paint. Furthermore, the hand pump inside the shrine compound was also uprooted,” the shrine’s caretaker told Indian Express.
An FIR was registered under Section 295 (A) of the IPC — for deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs.
According to reports, repainting of the shrine is undertaken.
