Ballia (UP), Feb 12 (PTI) Five people were booked for allegedly vandalising a statue of Sant Ravidas during a dispute between two groups in a village here on Wednesday, police said.

The incident occurred when preparations were underway for Sant Ravidas Jayanti celebrations in Padasara Nadauli Tajpur village, they said.

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During the cleaning of the temple premises, members of a community entered the temple with a goat. This led to an argument between the two sides, during which the idol's hand was damaged, police said.

Allegations of casteist remarks being hurled have also been made, police added.

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Following the incident, the villagers and organisers of the event expressed outrage. Police, however, rushed to the spot and pacified the agitated crowd.

Station House Officer (SHO) Vipin Singh said that based on a complaint filed by a resident, Ache Lal, a case has been registered against Sahil Qureshi, Raj Qureshi, Suhail, Mumtaz, and Firoz, along with others.

The FIR was lodged under BNS sections 191 (rioting), 298 (injuring or defiling a place of worship with intent to insult religion) and 352 (intentional insult with intent to provoke a breach of peace) and relevant sections of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, Singh said.

He added that the situation is under control, and police personnel have been deployed in the area as a precautionary measure. Efforts are on to arrest the accused, Singh said.

The state government declared, February 12, a public holiday to commemorate the birth anniversary of Sant Ravidas.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)