Gurgaon, August 26
Some unidentified persons demolished part of a religious structure and beat up its caretaker late last night at Wazirpur village, triggering tension in the area.

Caretaker of the religious structure approached Commissioner of Police Alok Mittal and complained that the police did not act despite being informed that the religious place was being demolished. He demanded action against the perpetrators of the act belonging to a particular community and the erring policemen.

He alleged that they had even threatened to destroy the remaining structure.

“Some anti-social elements demolished this structure after thrashing and driving away the caretaker. They had come on August 22 also. I called up police helpline. The police came but did nothing even as they continued with the demolition work,” said a letter written by the caretaker.

The police swung into action following the receipt of the letter. High ups swooped down on the village with a large force, turning the area into a cantonment. The area was cordoned off and public and media were kept at bay.

The incident sparked a war of words in the city with local politicians issuing statement and even writing to Congress chairman Sonia Gandhi.

“Though the incident has disrupted the peace and hurt sentiments of so many people, the administration is busy hushing up the case. No FIR was registered till late evening,” said a letter sent to Sonia Gandhi by a prominent organisation.

The police, however, said an FIR was registered and heavy force was deployed in village, while the broken structure was reconstructed.

While the incident left the rumour mills working overtime, local leaders tried to give political hue to the incident.

Alok Mittal clarified, “It’s not the religious structure but a wall which was brought down. The medical examination of the caretaker has been conducted and he is fine. We have registered a case against some miscreants and restoration has been done.

“On August 22 nothing was brought down. The incident should not be blown up or given a communal tinge,” said Mittal.

While many went ahead connecting today’s incident to yesterday’s incident at Jamalpur, police denied it.