FIR registered in Kali Devi temple sacrilege incident
Kanwar Inder singh/ royalpatiala.in
With the elections are around the corner, incident of sacrilege are increasing day by day. In a similar act that of sacrilege attempt at Golden Temple,Amritsar 23-year/old youth allegedly jumped into sanctum sanctorum of famous Kali Devi mandir on Monday evening in the royal city of Patiala.
Earlier in a day, the accused, who is yet to be identified, jumped into the sanctorum area and touched the main idol of the deity before he was overpowered by the priest and other devotees, paying obeisance at the historic Kali Devi temple.The accused was immediately handed over the police, which have started investigation into the matter.
The news spread like a fire in the city and tension prevailed in the city as members of several Hindu organisations gathered at the temple. The organisations also gave call of Patiala bandh as a mark of protest against the incident.However, police is yet to identify the identity of the accused.
“The investigation is on as the FIR has been registered against the accused,” said Patiala police officials.
As per available information a FIR may have been lodged under section 295 A of IPC (Deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs), section 354 IPC (Assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty.
Punjab chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi also strongly condemned the incident and urged people to maintain communal harmony in Punjab.”Bad elements are attempting to create a mayhem by disturbing hard earned peace and harmony of the Punjab ahead of the assembly elections in Punjab,” he said. He also asked Punjabis to stay united in protecting all religious centres across the Punjab.
Former union minister and Patiala MP Preneet Kaur today condemned the attempted sacrilege incident at the historic Kali Mata Mandir today. Urging the authorities to take firm and stern action against the culprits, Kaur said, these were being deliberately done to hurt the religious sentiments of people. She appealed people not to get provoked with such attempts as the clear motive of those trying these is to disturb peace in the state.
Meanwhile, former chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh tweeted “Strongly condemn the disturbing incident of attempted sacrilege at Shri Kali Mata Mandir in Patiala. Repetitive attempts to disturb peace in Punjab will not be tolerated. I urge @ECISVEEP to take strict action so that the atmosphere in the state is not disturbed.”
Shiromani akali dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal tweeted “Strongly condemn sacrilege at Kali Mata mandir, Patiala. We feared & warned against conspiracy by forces from outside Punjab to spread communal hatred among Hindus and Sikhs shrines. Worst fears coming true. Let’s all stay united against them to preserve peace & communal harmony.”
January 24,2022
