Desecration of 'Nagabana' statue: 8 arrested

The city police arrested eight persons in connection with the desecration and damage to the idol of serpent god ‘Nagabimba’ at Nagabana in Kodikal and Kuloor in Mangaluru.

Both incidents were carried out to divert the attention of the police and also to create law and order disturbances by raking up the sentiments of the people, said City Police Commissioner N Shashi Kumar.

The arrested are Safwan alias Chappu, Mohammed Suhaib, Praveen Anil Monteiro, Nikhilesh alias Vikki, Jayanth, Pratheek, Manjunath and Naush Arehalli. The arrested hail from Shanthinagara, Panjimogaru, Bantwal, Kuloor, and Hassan and all the arrested were known to each other and were meeting frequently.

Of the arrested, there are two NDPS Act cases against Safwan, one NDPS Act case against Mohammed Suhaib, three cases of theft, dacoity and attempt to theft against Praveen, and two NDPS cases against Jayanth Kumar. Further, the arrested were also in contact with a few of those who were arrested for anti social activities including moral policing and theft cases in Mangaluru City Police Commissionerate jurisdiction recently.

Following a series of chain snatching cases in the city, the police had strengthened security in the city, which in fact had affected the offenders from carrying out their offences. To divert the attention of the police, the arrested had decided to target Nagabana.

One of the arrested Praveen who had contact with those arrested in moral policing and chain snatching cases in Mangaluru recently had given Rs 10,000 to others arrested for carrying out the task of desecrating Nagabana at Kodikal. The arrested wanted to damage all the idols of serpent god ‘Nagabimba’ at Kodikal. As dogs started barking in the nearby area after they damaged one Nagabimba, they fled the spot, the Police Commissioner said.

The police are searching for a few more persons who had helped all the arrested by providing shelter and vehicles to carry out the crime of desecration of Nagabana. A total of 40 police personnel, including DCP (law and order) Hariram Shankar, DCP (crime) Dinesh Kumar, ACP (North) Mahesh Kumar, ACP (Central) P A Hegde, were part of the team that were successful in cracking both the cases.

The City Police Commissioner announced a cash reward of Rs 20,000 to the team.

Following the damage to Nagabimba at Kodikal, the residents and Hindu organisations had even observed Kodikal bandh on November 15 and the Hindu organisations had even given an ultimatum to the police to arrest the culprits.