Drunk man held for draping Islamic religious banner on Shankaracharya statue in Karnataka

An inebriated man left an Eid-Milad banner on the gopura of Shankaracharya statue in Sringeri town, investigation has revealed. Tensions ran high in the temple town of Sringeri after the cloth, claimed to be the flag of an organisation, was found on the gopura, on Thursday.

Addressing a press meet here on Friday, Superintendent of Police Akshay M Hakay said that a man by name Milind (28) had been arrested in connection with the incident. He said that during investigation it came to light that the cloth found on the statue was not a flag of any party or organisation, but was a banner pertaining to last year's Eid Milad.

The police had formed a special team to crack the case. The team traced the culprit on the basis of CCTV footage. The SP said that Milind had confessed to have committed the act on the night of August 12.

During interrogation, the accused said he had wrapped the banner found at the Jamia Masjid to protect himself from rain. But, after realising that it belonged to a place of worship, he thought of returning it and hung it on the gopura of the Shankaracharya's statue, the SP said.

The SP said that the accused had no connection within any party or organisation and it appeared that he was under the influence of liquor and did not act intentionally.