SHIVAMOGGA: Miscreants have thrown a flag of the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) on a statue of Shankaracharya at Sringeri town in Chikkamagaluru district, attracting the ire of devotees. The incident is suspected to have happened on the intervening night of Wednesday and Thursday but came to light on Thursday morning.
Following the incident, devotees of Shankaracharya led by former MLA D N Jeevaraj staged a protest and demanded that the culprits be arrested immediately. The police visited the spot and assured them that the culprits would be nabbed. Jeevaraj alleged that SDP workers threw the flag on the statue. He threatened to stage a protest in front of Sringeri police station if the culprits are not booked.
Udupi-Chikmagalur SP Shobha Karandlaje in a tweet blamed the SDPI for the incident. “Anti social elements are inciting people to propagate their sinister agendas. I condemn the incident of planting SDPI flags at Sringeri. Serious action will be taken against those who are behind this incident,” she said.
District Minister C T Ravi tweeted that he asked the SP to investigate the incident. Chikkamagaluru SP Hakay Akshay Machindra told The New Indian Express that the incident came to light at around 10 am on Thursday.
“Since it was raining, the area had fewer people. It is suspected that the miscreants threw the flag on the statue. We will arrest the suspects soon,” the SP said and refused to divulge more information as the case is being investigated.