One arrested for defiling Lord Shiva idol

One person has been arrested for allegedly defiling an idol of Shiva and stealing money from a temple here, police said on Sunday. The accused has been identified as Kamaldeep alias Nanu who has been living either in a Dharamshala in Hadiabad town or at a crematorium near Kotrani Gate-Jandiala road crossing, according to Kapurthala SSP Satinder Singh.

According to police, the incident took place at the old shrine of Swami Shankar Nath Parbat Matt temple in Hadiabad near here on Saturday. A complaint was filed by Bhaskar Joshi, the temple priest, who told police that a devotee who had come to pay obeisance at the temple informed him about the desecration of the idol.

Police then viewed footage from the CCTV camera in the temple. The video recording showed that the accused entered the temple on the pretext of paying obeisance but left after stealing some money from a container and defiling the idol, the officer said.

The accused was then arrested under IPC sections 295 (injuring or defiling place of worship with intent to insult the religion of any class), 295-A (deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs) and 380 ( theft in a dwelling house), he said. The accused will be interrogated to know the motive behind the act of defilement, police said.