The police said that villagers had turned 12.5 acres of rocky terrain adjacent to a temple into a worship site after a recent downpour uncovered three stone idols buried in the site.
The land, which is situated next to the Venugopalaswamy Temple in Doddabettahalli near M S Palya, was recently bought by Umra land developers through a government auction. The developer had recently begun work on levelling the ground.
According to the police, the land was a source of conflict between the villagers and the developer from the time the latter gained control over the land. Further, the land was also a cause of tension as three children from nearby villages had died recently in the vicinity after a wall collapsed.
Ever since the locals discovered the stone idols, they had set up a ‘shamiana’ and had turned the area into a place of worship.
Matters came to a head on Saturday afternoon as villagers took exception to the activity of the developer in the worship site. The police said that the two sides came to a settlement after the developers took temporary possession of the idols.
DH News Service
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