Police in Kendrapara district arrested a 28-year-old drunk man on Monday on the charges of vandalizing a temple and attacking many devotees ,including women, in an inebriated state.
The drunk man barged into the temple at Haladipatana village under Nikirai police station on Monday and vandalized the place of worship.He later snatched away a Trishul (trident) from the sanctum sanctorum of the temple and attacked devotees with the trident as a result three devotees suffered minor injuries. He also sprinkled with the Prasad of the temple. The unsavoury episode was captured on the mobile phone camera by a section of devotees.
Identified as Khetrabasi Mallick, he was tied to a tree by locals, who overpowered him.
On being informed, police rushed to the village to arrest the culprit under sections, 133 (assault), 294 punishment for obscene acts or words in public), 329(3) (criminal trespass), 298 (injuring or defiling a place of worship with the intent to insult the religion of any class of people), 299 (Deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs) and 196(1)( anyone who promotes enmity between groups based on religion) of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), said the Inspector in charge of Nikirai police station, Sanjay Kumar Mallick.