2 UP villages tense after removal of Ganesh idols
Tension prevails in Bahraich district as hundreds of villagers, led by BJP MLA Mukut Bihari Verma, are staging protests on the collectorate premises to protest against the removal of Ganesh idols in Beria and Dhaprapur villages on Tuesday night.
The police has arrested 58 protesters that include 47 women, for trying to disturb the peace. Twenty-seven people were later sent to jail, while the rest were released on personal bonds.
The organising committees of the Ganesh festivals in both the villages have now threatened to intensify the agitation if the idols, set up for Ganesh Puja, are not returned to their original place by Friday.
District magistrate Kinjal Singh said that the idols were removed because the organisers had not taken any permission to conduct Ganesh Puja in Dhaprapur village. “No new puja pandals will be allowed in the district in view of the surcharged atmosphere,” she said.
Superintendent of police Mohit Gupta termed this as a conspiracy hatched by vested interests to disturb peace and harmony in the district. He said no one was injured in the police action.
The state home department in Lucknow denied any knowledge of the incidents in Bahraich.
According to reports reaching here, the villagers had set up a Ganesh Pandal with an idol on the occasion of Ganesh Chaturthi on Monday in Beria village.
Sub-divisional magistrate Parvez Ahmed and CO (city) Mahendra Singh Chauhan went to the village on Tuesday night and took away the idol to Dehat Kotwali, citing the absence of permission for the same.
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