A day after tension in Muzaffarnagar after meat was thrown inside a place of worship, communal tension prevailed in Saharanpur when another such incident was reported from the Salempur Bhookdi village.
The two communities living in the village were on the verge of clashes after devotees found pieces of meat inside a place of worship on Sunday afternoon.
Village head Bhanu Rana told The Hindu , “People noticed that pieces of meat were inside the temple when some devotees went inside. This made people extremely angry because it looked like someone was trying to provoke them. As the news spread that a temple was desecrated, people gathered outside its main gate. An agitated mob started protesting against the desecration and demanded action against the culprits.”
Group clashes
He said that the tension led to members of two religious communities confronting each other on the street. “The situation could have gone out of hand had the police not reached in time and talked to elders from both the communities,” added Mr. Rana.
Inspector P.L. Verma, who is deployed at the Saharanpur rural police station, disagreed with local villager’s allegation of a conspiracy to desecrate the temple. Mr. Verma told The Hindu , “It looked like street dogs brought pieces of meat and entered the place of worship leading to this confusion and confrontation between the two communities. We talked to community elders in the village and brought about a compromise. They also agreed that peace was important.”
Meanwhile, police bandobast has been stepped up in the village.
