Tension erupted in Madhya Pradesh’s Narsinghpur district on Thursday after a “Pakistani flag” was found hoisted atop a Hanuman temple, prompting authorities to prohibit gathering of more than four people in the district headquarters.
A case has been registered against unidentified persons for hurting religious sentiments, police said on Friday.
Police also prohibited sharing of “communally sensitive” contents on social medial platforms.
Locals saw the flag when they went to the Panchmukhi Hanuman temple on the outskirts of Narsinghpur town, some 190kms from the state capital Bhopal, in the morning.
Members of the temple committee immediately removed the flag that has a white star and crescent on a dark green field, with a vertical white stripe at the hoist.
But unlike on the Pakistan’s national flag, the crescent on the flag atop the temple was facing downward with a star below it.
The miscreants also allegedly scribbled a message on the temple wall threatening to wipe out a particular community.
Several right-wing Hindu organisations took out protest marches in the town to protest the incident and demanded immediate action against the perpetrators.
Akhilesh Dahiya, Narsinghpur Kotwali police station in-charge told HT over phone that several people were questioned over the incident.
“We have questioned scores of people and more are being questioned in this case. As the CCTV of the temple was not functioning, we are now trying to get the footages from the nearby CCTVs to get a cue about the identity of the perpetrators,” he said.
Dahiya said section 144 of the CrPC had been imposed in the town restricting gathering of more than four people in a particular place to prevent any further flare up.
The case against the unidentified people has been registered under IPC section 295 A (outraging religious feelings ) and 298 (using words that hurt religious feelings ).
