CHIKKAMAGALURU: Tension prevailed at Inam Dattatreya Peetha atop Baba Budangiri Hills on Sunday after a group of youngsters went berserk in the disputed area and the protected area.
Sunday was the last day of the three-day Datta Jayanti celebrations. At 1 pm, around 1,000 devotees started dispersing after a religious meet atop the hills. While descending, a few started throwing saffron flags inside the disputed area, located en route.
Police pacified the slogan-shouting mob and asked them to move on. But, a group of youths barged into a high-fenced protected area nearby where the tombs of Shakadri family members are located. Two youths pulled down the tombstone of one Lal Sab and the other one next to it. Only four policemen were deployed and they could not control them.DIG Hemanth Nimbalkar, SP K Annamalai and Deputy Commissioner M K Srirangaiah rushed to the spot.
Police cane mob
CHIKKAMAGALURU: When the news of vandalism in the protected area atop the Baba Budangiri Hills was aired on TV channels, angry members of a community pelted stones at buses and smashed window panes at Uppally. Another group near the KSRTC bus stand also retaliated.
Police resorted to a mild lathicharge to disperse the crowd. Police then ordered the shops en route Datta Peetha to remain shut until further orders. Section 144 has been in force in the area for the past four days.
All you need to know about the issue
BJP leaders and Hindutva groups have been demanding that the controversial cave shrine atop Bababudangiri, near Chikkamagaluru, be declared a Hindu place of worship. To the north of Chikkamagaluru town is the Baba-Budan Range, which has one of the highest mountain peaks between the Himalayas and the Nilgiris. The range, originally known as Chandra Drona Parvatha, takes its current name from the Dattapeeta Cave and 17th century Sufi saint Baba Budan.
The saint took up residence here for more than 150 years ago and brought coffee seeds for the first time to India from Yemen.
The controversy was born in 1975 when the State government decided to transfer the shrine from the Muzrai Department to the Wakf Board. Till then, this had been a pilgrim place frequented by both Hindus and Muslims.
While Hindus treat it as the abode of Sri Guru Dattatreya Bababudanswamy, Muslims consider it the place of Dada Hayat Mir Qualandar.
(With inputs from online desk)