Tension after goon damages Ganesh idol

NAGPUR: Tension gripped Tandapeth after a notorious criminal broke Lord Ganesha's idol and dumped into a nearby drain on Saturday morning. The situation was brought under control by cops from the nearby Pachpaoli police station. Several top police officers reached the scene to prevent the situation from worsening.
Cops also mildly cane charged the enraged residents who pelted stones, staged a protest and also tried to set ablaze the house of the accused, Tingu alias Shani Kene.
According to the residents, Kene, 53, forcibly entered the temple and hit the idol with an iron rod. "He continued hitting until it fell down and broke into two pieces," said a resident.
Kene then fled with the idol and dumped it in a drain. The residents claimed that when the temple trustee Ravi Gokhale tried to stop Kene, the criminal poured kerosene on him and threatened to him ablaze. Cops seized a kerosene can and matchstick box from Kene.
The temple was constructed just two months ago on a plot of land belonging to NMC. Kene was against the construction as he wanted to use the land for some other purpose, residents said.
The residents said Kene had also planned to destroy the temple by burning it. The local residents were alerted by Gokhale, who somehow saved his life from Kene. "Though Kene tried to flee the spot, he fell into the same drain where he dumped the lord's idol," said a political activist, Bhaskar Parate. "It was like he was punished by god."
Kene managed to get out from the drain and rushed to his home. He was then taken by his brothers to Mayo Hospital where he is still undergoing treatment.
Residents claimed that Kene has been a nuisance for the locality since many years. He has been booked for crimes like, abuse, extortion, threatening and many others. "More than 15 cases are registered against him at Pachpaoli police. Though cops arrested him many times, he somehow managed to escape punishment," said ward corporator Rajendra Dhakate. He alleged that Kene runs an illicit liquor den in the area.
Saturday's crime, however, seemed to be the last straw. Enraged at the insult to their deity, people pelted stones on Kene's house, where only women of the family were present. "The residents also thronged Kene's liquor den and doused it with kerosene. But before they set it on fire, cops dispersed them with a mild cane charge," said Parate. who had alerted the control room and also urged joint CP D Kanakaratnam and DCP Zone II A B Pote to reach the spot.
Kanakaratnam promised strict action against Kene and residents claimed that the joint CP even promised to book Kene under the stringent MCOCA within 24 hours.
Pachpaoli police booked Kene for attempt to murder and other relevant sections of IPC.