RANCHI: Remember the 2012 Bollywood movie Oh My God! starring Paresh Rawal and Akshay Kumar that was inspired by the Australian film The Man Who Sued God? Well, Lord Hanuman wasn’t sued but He recently got an eviction notice from Dhanbad Rail Division assistant engineer Anand Kumar Pandey for squatting in the Bekar Bandh area that belongs to the railways. He was warned of legal action if his temple was not removed within 10 days. The notice pasted on the temple wall had Lord Hanuman’s name as the encroacher.
Pandey soon realised he had needlessly messed up with the powerful deity as he was transferred shortly thereafter to the Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Rail Division in UP. The Dhanbad railway tried to explain it off as a routine transfer, as four other engineers, too, were shifted to other locations at the same time. However, they admitted the eviction notice to the deity was a mistake.
Pandey had issued eviction notices 27 other households living in makeshift accommodations around the temple as well. Matters came to a head when locals spotted the notice to Hanumanji pasted on the temple wall and launched a protest. Railway officials immediately realised their mistake and removed it. “It was a human error. There was no intention to hurt people’s sentiments. We were only trying to get the land vacated from encroachers,” officials said on condition of anonymity.