Udupi: The members of the Sangh Parivar allegedly assaulted two priests of the Mahalingeshwar Temple in Karje near here on Thursday, December 6. The two priests were admitted to a government hospital in Ajjarkad, Udupi.
The injured priests have been identified as Ramakrishna Adiga and Srikanth Adiga.
BJP leaders, led by Suresh Shetty Tadal, Sudhakar Shetty, Balakrishna Shetty, Sandanand, Navin Puthran and ten other Sangh Parivar members allegedly entered the temple illegally, removed chief priest Ramakrishna Adiga’s clothes and beat him with wooden lathis. They also allegedly snatched the priest’s thread and assaulted him very badly while the priest prayed to Lord Shiva.
One of the main accused in the incident, Suresh Shetty was the president of the Temple renovation committee. During his tenure, he and others stole the temple Hundi and a case was registered against them in the Kundapur AC court. The Deputy Commissioner had warned the accused not to interfere in the matters of the temple administration and instructed the local police to take action against the accused.
According to Ramakrishna Adiga, a compromise meeting was organised by Udupi MLA Raghupathy Bhat with all concerned parties involved, during which, Sudhakar Shetty had threatened to cut the chief priest’s hands and legs and kill him.