BHATKAL (UTTARA KANNADA) : The Uttara Kannada police have taken 40 persons into custody and started an inquiry into the communal tension which flared up in Bhatkal town on May 24, when a makeshift temple was demolished.
The police on Friday said that when the miscreants came in a large group to the Moorinakatte temple and tried to demolish it, police personnel and officers tried to stop them. “But the mob prevented the police from discharging their duties and even assaulted the government servants on duty,” the police said and added, “An individual who was filming the entire incident was also beaten up and his mobile phone was snatched by them. Based on this incident, five criminal cases have been lodged in Bhatkal Town Police Station and an inquiry is on”.
Stating that the miscreants blocked the highway as they ransacked the temple and interrupted the traffic, the police said that in the wake of National Highway-66 widening work, the NHAI had allocated the government land adjacent to the temple on the highway.
“The temple was being constructed for shifting the old Moorinakatte temple and the deity which has been there for several decades. At that time a person, Mothib Mohammed, resident of Azad Nagar, Bhatkal, videographed the incident and posted it on social media.
This triggered communal tension. A criminal case was registered against him and he has been arrested and produced before a court,” the police said.
As part of measures to ensure peace in the taluk, 850 police personnel have been deployed in the town’s sensitive areas. The police has appealed to the public not to pay heed to any provocative information. “We have kept a tab on social media and strict action will be initiated against anyone who posts sensitive information,” the police said.