A crowd of angry protesters on Tuesday staged an agitation against alleged vandalism in a temple in the Jammu. The city was clouded with tension after a youth reportedly entered Aap Shambu temple in Janipura neighbourhood and broke the protective glass in front of the idols inside, The Indian Express reported.
The suspect, Yasir Alfaz of Doda district’s Shiva village, was arrested. He also allegedly misbehaved with women while they were performing aarti at the temple. According to police, Alfaz was of "unsound mind". He vandalised the temple following reports that Islamic State leader Abu Bakr-al-Baghdadi was killed in an airstrike in Syria, sources told The Indian Express.
CCTV footage of the temple’s desecration went viral on social media platforms, which worsened communal tension in the area. Protesters attacked a police station in the city and set vehicles on fire on Tuesday night. They gathered outside the police station, when Alfaz’s brother Tanvir was taken into protective custody.
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