JAMMU: Demanding a thorough probe into the two incidents of temple desecration in Jammu, various religious, political and social organisations have appealed to the people to maintain calm and help identify the culprits.
"There is a deep-rooted conspiracy to disturb peace in Jammu region by desecrating the temples. The authorities must identify the real culprits and punish them accordingly," former state president of VHP, Leela Karan Sharma said.
He said the two "sacrilegious" incidents within a period of 36 hours cannot be a coincidence, as he asked the authorities to expose the greater conspiracy aimed at disturbing peace in Jammu region.
He said the recent incident of desecration of a temple in Nanak Nagar area allegedly by an inebriated person seems to be part of a well-knit conspiracy.
"It should be probed who gave drugs to that man and asked him to go and vandalise the temple," Sharma said.
Various Sikh organisations have also come forward and condemned the recent incidents of desecration of temples in Jammu.
"Jammu is a city of temples and people of all faiths have been co-existing here for centuries. The people who hurt the sentiments of others do not represent any religion.
"If there is a deep-rooted conspiracy to destabilise peace in the region, government must expose them," president of Guru Manyo Granth Society, Jasdeep Singh said.
President of Shiv Sena and Dogra Front, Ashok Gupta said that Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs have been living peacefully in Jammu and there was a conspiracy to destabilise peace in the region.
"There are reports that the man who vandalised the temple in Nanak Nagar called somebody and said that he has done his job. We want the authorities to find out who that man was who had ordered this man to carry out the sacrilegious act," Gupta said.
Condemning the two incidents, Chairman of the Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party (JKNPP) Harsh Dev Singh has demanded that the government conduct a thorough probe and punish the culprits.
"We must maintain peace and harmony in the region as there are some forces which are hell-bent to disturb peace here. We must unite to foil their nefarious designs but also force the authorities to identify the real culprits and bring them to book," he said.
Meanwhile, the authorities have restored the broadband Internet services in the region whereas the mobile Internet services continue to be suspended for the third consecutive day today.
"The decision to snap the mobile Internet services was taken to stop rumour mongering in the region and to control any flare-up in the situation in wake of the two incidents of desecration of temples," Deputy Commissioner (DC) Jammu, Simrandeep Singh told PTI.
He said the accused in yesterday's "sacrilegious act" has been booked under the stringent Public Safety Act (PSA).
Sources said the man involved in the desecration of temple in Nanak Nagar is a discharged constable of Indian Reserve Police (IRP) who was sacked from the services in 2013 for remaining inebriated even during the office hours.
"Inquiry has been ordered and we are trying to find out all the angles involved in the incident," the DC said.
He said the situation in all parts of Jammu was normal and under control.
"We have restored the broadband services and the decision to revoke the suspension of mobile Internet services would be taken soon," he said.