Temple desecrated near Cuncolim

MARGAO: In yet another incident of vandalism of a religious place in the state, a four foot idol of Lord Betal, 19 lingams, a deep stamb (sacred lamp post) and tulsi vrindavan were desecrated by miscreants at Sath Devlam in Veroda, some five kms away from Cuncolim.
The incident came to light early Saturday morning when the attorney of the devasthan, Mahesh Gaonkar, while on a routine visit to the temple, saw all the abovementioned items broken to pieces and scattered everywhere.The village was gripped by tension after the incident came to light with locals demanding an immediate probe into the matter.
Devastan members opined that the incident might have occurred around midnight or in the wee hours of Saturday as some members were present at the temple premises, a secluded place at the foot of Chandranath hill, till about 8pm on Friday.
Devotees under the banner of Ramnath Devasthan Mahajan's (RDM) will stage a morcha on Sunday at Veroda and have planned to submit an ultimatum to the government demanding a probe into the matter within a span of eight days.
"This is the 34th act of vandalism of a religious place in the state and the government has not been able to do much. Going by the modus operandi adopted by the culprits, it is established that some common force is behind all the incidents. Therefore, we demand that the government conduct a free and fearless probe
to book such elements," demanded an angry member.
Meanwhile, the SP, DySP, SDM Khorjuenkar and various political leaders, including Churchill Alemao, visited the site and assured the people that an inquiry would be initiated immediately.
Besides deployment of police force at the site, a dog squad was also pressed into service.