Chhattisgarh: Man vandalises Shivling hoping for ‘god to appear’

A “superstitious” youth in a Chhattisgarh town vandalised a Shivling in the local temple to make Lord Shiva appear.

The incident, which took place in the Jaleswarh temple in Dongaria in Kawardha district on the intervening night of June 27-28, had stoked communal passion in the area forcing the police to act swiftly to bring the situation under control.

“We have arrested one Akash Mishra (24) on charges of vandalising the sacred idol. He has been remanded to judicial custody,” Raipur-Durg range inspector general of police, G.P. Singh told reporters on Saturday.

According to the police, the youth — who had earlier served as a priest in two other temples in the locality — damaged the Shivlinga with the belief that Lord Shiva would appear from ground.

The idol was believed by the local devotees as a natural “ling” which emerged from the earth and was growing in size with time.

“The youth spent whole night on the fateful day and on the spur of the moment took an iron rod and hammered the statue till it got damaged. He then left the place to turn up next day to watch impact of his action”, Kawardha district superintendent of police D.Ravishankar said.

“The youth appeared calm and unremorseful for his actions when he was arrested” police said.