A self-styled godman helped by the local sarpanch and a top municipal official dug up a panchayat road adjoining a highway after the godman claimed that God appeared in his dream and told him that there was an idol there and that he must dig it out and construct a temple there. The incident happened near Jangaon under Warangal Police Commissionerate in Telangana. A large number of people gathered as the godman, Manoj Lakhan, appeared to be “possessed’’ when he reached a spot on the panchayat road connecting Pembarthi village with the Warangal-Hyderabad highway. Convinced by him, sarpanch B Sidhulingam and municipal vice-chairman N Venkat Rao summoned an excavator and started digging the road. “After they dug 20-25 feet, they found nothing. By then traffic had come to a standstill. We took him into custody though he is still convinced that they should dig deeper,’’Jangaon inspector M Srinivas said. Police later closed the pit and cleared the traffic.
