Hyderabad: A day after the Mysamma temple at the Puranapul Darwaza area of Hyderabad was desecrated, the city police said that the suspect involved in the incident was arrested on Thursday, January 15.
The arrest comes after communal violence broke out late at night of January 14 after the temple flexi was found damaged. In a statement regarding the arrest, the Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), Rajendranagar, said, “The suspect involved in the case registered at Kamatipura Police Station, regarding the incident at Puranapool Darwaza Mysamma temple, has been apprehended by the police.”
The DCP said that the incident involved the damaging of a flexi banner and a plaster of Paris (POP) idol in the temple veranda. “The suspect was apprehended within 24 hours of the incident. Police are currently investigating the case and interrogating the suspect to collect further evidence,” he concluded.
Temple desecrated in Hyderabad
A communal clash jolted the city’s Ganga-Jamuni tehzeeb on Wednesday night, January 14, after a tattered flexi board and a damaged deity idol were allegedly found inside the Mysamma Temple at Hyderabad’s Puranapul Darwaza area.
The incident enraged many, and Hindutva group members turned up in the dozens. Videos of an angry mob stomping and wrecking the graves with sticks, chanting “Jai Shri Ram” slogans, as well as damaging a religious flag, in the presence of police personnel, emerged on social media.
After being alerted, the Kamatipura Police reached the spot and tried to diffuse the situation. But things only escalated from there, as the mob swelled to nearly 300 people. They hurled stones at the officers and set vehicles on fire. A civilian motorcycle was set ablaze, and the windshield of an incoming truck was broken, bringing the traffic to an abrupt halt at the busy intersection on the banks of the Musi river.
At least four police officers and a resident were reportedly injured in the stone pelting. Police responded with a lathi charge to disperse the crowd, even as tension continued to rise.
Additional force was called in. Senior police officers, including Additional Commissioner of Police, South Range (Law & Order), Tafseer Iqbal, Deputy Commissioners of Police (DCP) from Charminar, Golconda and Rajendra Nagar, Task Force and traffic police, reached the site and finally brought the situation under control.
