Hyderabad, Jan 15 (IANS) Hyderabad police have registered cases in connection with the vandalism at a temple premises at Puranpaul and the subsequent attack by a mob on a religious structure and the police on Wednesday night.

Police on Thursday issued a statement about the incidents that triggered communal tension in the area.

According to Deputy Commissioner of Police, Rajendra Nagar, around 11:30 p.m., an unidentified individual entered the Puranapool Darwaza Mysamma Temple and partially damaged a flexi banner and a POP (Plaster of Paris) idol located in the temple veranda.

Responding immediately to the incident, the Kamatipura Police registered a case. CCTV footage and other evidence from the crime scene have been collected. Crucial information regarding the accused has been obtained during the investigation, and the offender will be arrested soon, the official said.

Following this incident, a mob of approximately 300 people gathered and vandalised a nearby ‘Chilla’. They also attacked the police personnel who were trying to bring the situation under control. Four police personnel sustained severe injuries in this attack. A separate case has been registered in connection with the attacks on police personnel and vandalising the religious structure. Investigating officers have identified the perpetrators based on CCTV footage and videos. Stringent legal action will be taken against them, the police.

The DCP clarified that only the flexi and the POP idol in the Puranapool Darwaza Mysamma Temple veranda were partially damaged in this incident. The idols in the Sanctum Sanctorum (Garbha Gudi) are safe. The offender has not entered the main temple. There is absolutely no truth to the rumours being spread that the main idol was destroyed, he stressed.

Hyderabad police officials appealed to the citizens not to believe such malicious propaganda.

Currently, the situation in the area is completely under control. Citizens are requested not to panic. Stringent legal action will be taken against those spreading fake news on social media regarding this incident, and against those who take the law into their own hands and disrupt law and order, added the DCP.

–IANS

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