BENGALURU: Tension gripped JJ Nagar on Sunday night after miscreants allegedly threw stones at Om Shakti devotees during a religious procession, leaving a 21-year-old woman with a serious head injury.
The incident occurred near the Om Shakti temple at VS Garden in Jagjivanram (JJ) Nagar at 8.10 pm, when devotees were performing rituals as part of the procession.
Following the incident, hundreds of devotees gathered outside the JJ Nagar police station and protested, demanding the immediate arrest of those responsible. Two platoons of the Karnataka State Reserve Police Force (KSRP) were deployed in the area to prevent any untoward incident and to maintain law and order.
The injured woman’s father said stones were thrown from the opposite side of the temple. He claimed that the attackers could not be identified as it was dark. The police, however, said the claims are being verified.
The devotees said the incident hurt their religious sentiments. Heavy police bandobast has been deployed at the spot of the incident as well as in and around the police station.
Stones thrown at the time of puja, states FIR
According to a complaint filed by Shashi Kumar (43), devotees were engaged in worship around 8.15 pm and a procession of devotees was passing near the Panchamukhi Nagadevata Temple, when three to four youth threw stones at the procession. One girl in the procession sustained a severe head injury and started bleeding. She was admitted to a local hospital.
The FIR stated that such incidents had occurred earlier as well. On two or three previous occasions, fires were set during religious celebrations.
Om Shakti and Ayyappa Swamy devotees together submitted the complaint, seeking appropriate legal action against those responsible for hurting religious sentiments and committing atrocities against Dalits.