The dispute between two cousins reached a fever pitch

A heated argument between two cousins, Mani and Sunil, took a sacrilegious turn at Ratan Nagar here this morning. The altercation, seemingly stemming from family issues, took outside a temple in Ratan Nagar.

According to eyewitnesses, the conflict arose when Mani, who owns a stall outside the temple, was preparing to display photos of deities and religious items for sale. Sunil, alias Kaka, confronted Mani, resulting in a brawl that quickly spiralled out of control. In the heat of the moment, Sunil allegedly pushed Mani’s stall and threw sacred photos and religious items into a nearby drain.

Local residents revealed that the cousins had been engaged in dispute over family matters for the past some time. They even had a fight last night.

The SHO of the Basti Bawa Khel police station said the incident took place in early in the morning. He mentioned that Sunil was an addict and was frequently involved in fights with various persons in the area.

“We received reports of a confrontation involving two men and one individual disrespecting the religious images by allegedly throwing these into a drain. We reached the spot and recorded statements from eyewitnesses,” he said.

He said on a complaint of Yashpal, a resident who witnessed the incident, a case under Section 295-A of the IPC had been registered against Sunil. However, he fled the spot after the desecration.