Shrine Attacked In Gurugram, 'No Communal Angle', Say Caretaker and Police

Part of the temple-cum-shrine, in Gurugram's sector 37, was set on fire in the early hours of 7 August.

Ghasite Ram, the priest at the temple-cum-shrine, said locals were behind the act. 

(Photo: Fatima Khan, Altered By: Kamran Akhter)

A part of a shrine was set on fire in the early hours of Monday, 7 August, in Gurugram’s Khandsa village in sector 37. The shrine or mazar of a certain peer baba, has images of Hindu Gods and Hindu revered figures at the entrance as well as on the inside. The shrine’s pujari or priest, Ghasite Ram, said that Hindu Gods are honored at the "shrine-cum-temple" but that “all faiths come to pay their respects here.”

Ghasite Ram, the priest at the temple-cum-shrine. 

(Fatima Khan/ The Quint)

“I have been here for seven years. And in these seven years, people from all communities have come here to pray,” Ghasite Ram told The Quint.

An FIR has been registered in the Sector 37 police station, under IPC sections 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention), 153A (promoting enmity between different groups), 188 (disobedience of an order duly promulgated by a public servant), 436 (mischief by fire or explosive substance with intent to destroy house).

'Hindu Boys From Village Came To Us, Sought Forgiveness': Temple Caretaker

While the FIR was originally filed against “unidentified persons”, three people were later arrested. However, ACP Varun Dahiya denied there being a communal angle to the crime, prima facie.

“We have arrested three people in the case. They are locals from the village. We will be able to speak better after interrogation but prima facie it doesn’t seem like a communally motivated crime at all,” ACP Dahiya told The Quint. “The shrine is frequented by people of all faiths,” he added.

The priest as well as the caretaker of the shrine said that three boys from the village came to them later in the day to own up to the crime and apologise.

Krishna, the caretaker at the temple-cum-shrine. 

(Fatima Khan/ The Quint)

“They were local Hindu boys from the village who did this, possibly while drunk. They came to us later and sought forgiveness too. Now the police will decide what to do with them,” Krishna, the caretaker, told The Quint.

Krishna said that two bottles of petrol bomb were thrown into the temple-cum-shrine at around 1:30 am and soon after locals, including her, arrived and doused the fire. “The inner gate of the shrine, where the peer baba’s tomb is, was locked. We reached before the fire could get inside and damage the shrine,” Krishna said.

Krishna showing the damage due to the fire.

(Fatima Khan/ The Quint)

The incident occurred a week after violence erupted in different parts of Haryana, including Nuh and Gurugram. A mosque was set on fire and its naib Imam killed last Tuesday and since then tensions have been simmering in the city.