LONDON: A man has been arrested after barging into a Shiva temple in Wembley, refusing to remove his boots and trying to throw a sacred murti and smash a diya.
The black male intruder entered the Eelapatheeswarar Alayam Temple on Union Road, which is next door to a mosque, on Saturday. He was dressed in a hoodie with a face mask covering and carrying a book.
Rajasingham Jayadevan, who is of Sri Lankan origin and is the founder and general secretary of the South Indian tradition temple, said staff stopped the man and asked him to remove his boots and pull his hoodie down.He left and then barged back in and went to the side of temple where the deities are, took the Lakshmi deity and was about to throw and smash it. “Luckily our manager went and quickly grabbed it from his hand,” Jayadevan said. “Then he went to the Navagraha (nine deities) stand and there were brass diyas there. He smashed one on the Navagraha structures and tried to shake one of the Navagrahas,” he said.
The devotees grabbed him and took him round to the front. One of the male devotees held him until police came. “During this time, he was reciting Quranic verses,” Jayadevan claimed.
He then assaulted a police officer who tried to arrest him and was taken to hospital.
The temple was founded 30 years ago and attracts PIO devotees mainly from Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Gujarat, and Bihar.
A Metropolitan police spokesperson said: “Shortly after 1.30 pm on January 6, police were called to a man who had entered a Hindu temple in Wembley. It was reported that the 22-year-old man was causing a significant disturbance inside the temple. Officers attended and the man was detained. He was taken to hospital as a precaution due to his elevated heart rate and subsequently arrested on suspicion of assaulting an emergency worker and taken into police custody.” When TOI asked why he was not arrested for vandalism, the spokesperson said: “While we were called to reports of a man shouting and damaging property, no one present wished to substantiate any related criminal allegation.”
Watch Caught on cam: Man arrested for trying to smash deity in Wembley’s Shiva Temple
The black male intruder entered the Eelapatheeswarar Alayam Temple on Union Road, which is next door to a mosque, on Saturday. He was dressed in a hoodie with a face mask covering and carrying a book.
Rajasingham Jayadevan, who is of Sri Lankan origin and is the founder and general secretary of the South Indian tradition temple, said staff stopped the man and asked him to remove his boots and pull his hoodie down.He left and then barged back in and went to the side of temple where the deities are, took the Lakshmi deity and was about to throw and smash it. “Luckily our manager went and quickly grabbed it from his hand,” Jayadevan said. “Then he went to the Navagraha (nine deities) stand and there were brass diyas there. He smashed one on the Navagraha structures and tried to shake one of the Navagrahas,” he said.
The devotees grabbed him and took him round to the front. One of the male devotees held him until police came. “During this time, he was reciting Quranic verses,” Jayadevan claimed.
He then assaulted a police officer who tried to arrest him and was taken to hospital.
The temple was founded 30 years ago and attracts PIO devotees mainly from Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Gujarat, and Bihar.
A Metropolitan police spokesperson said: “Shortly after 1.30 pm on January 6, police were called to a man who had entered a Hindu temple in Wembley. It was reported that the 22-year-old man was causing a significant disturbance inside the temple. Officers attended and the man was detained. He was taken to hospital as a precaution due to his elevated heart rate and subsequently arrested on suspicion of assaulting an emergency worker and taken into police custody.” When TOI asked why he was not arrested for vandalism, the spokesperson said: “While we were called to reports of a man shouting and damaging property, no one present wished to substantiate any related criminal allegation.”
Watch Caught on cam: Man arrested for trying to smash deity in Wembley’s Shiva Temple