Man held for vandalising statue of Mother Mary, Infant Jesus in Bhandup

THE Bhandup police on Monday arrested a 21-year-old man for allegedly vandalising a statue of Mother Mary and Infant Jesus in Bhandup in the early hours of Monday morning. The police said that the accused, identified as Paulraj Yauvan Nadar (21) was heavily drunk at the time of the incident, and his brother, who allegedly […]

THE Bhandup police on Monday arrested a 21-year-old man for allegedly vandalising a statue of Mother Mary and Infant Jesus in Bhandup in the early hours of Monday morning. The police said that the accused, identified as Paulraj Yauvan Nadar (21) was heavily drunk at the time of the incident, and his brother, who allegedly also participated in the vandalism, is wanted in connection with the case.

According to the Bhandup police, the accused was picked from his home in Bhandup near Anthony Church where the incident took place. The police are still on the lookout for brother Dinkaran.

The police said that the incident took place at around 1:00 am on Monday after the brothers had a verbal spat with the head priest at the church. The spat stemmed from a fight that the brother were involved in with another local resident outside the church around a month ago.

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“After they got intoxicated, the brothers created a ruckus outside the church and called for the priest. There was an intense verbal spat with the priest, after which Paulraj broke the glass of the statue out of rage with a pipe and injured his hand in the process,” said P R Chavan, senior police inspector, Bhandup police.

The Bhandup police have charged the accused under sections 336 (endangering life or personal safety), 295 (hurting religious sentiments), 298 (uttering words, etc with deliberate intent to wound the religious feelings of a person), 506 (2) (criminal intimidation) and 34 (act done with common intention) under the Indian Penal Code.

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