Bantwal: 2 arrested for razing Christian structure, installing Hindu deity; cop suspended

Bantwal, Sept 30: The police have managed to arrest two of a group of miscreants who had razed a grotto of Mother Velankani to the ground at Kuntrakala in Kolnadu village under the limits of Vittla police station in Bantwal taluk.

The police gave the names of the arrested as Jayaram Naik, 45, a Home Guard, and Monappa Naik, 38. The two were among the group of miscreants from the local bhajana mandal which indulged in the act.

The grotto had been installed at Kuntrakala by a church in 1970. Recently, the parish council of the church sought permission of the village panchayat to renovate the grotto.

A section of villagers belonging to Hindu community had opposed renovation. On Thursday, around 20 villagers, including Jayaram and Monappa, went with earth movers, and razed the grotto to the ground. The group then installed an idol of Koragajja Daiva, a Hindu deity at the spot, which is a government land.

Idol removed, cop suspended

Following the arrest of the two, the police removed the idol of the Daiva and handed over the land to the local tahsildar.

Dakshina Kannada Superintendent of Police B.R. Ravikanthe Gowda suspended a police constable, Ashok for failing to discharge his beat duty properly in the village. “In the preliminary inquiry it’s found that Mr. Ashok was not active in discharging his duty as the beat constable,” Mr. Gowda said.