Indore temple tragedy: Drive launched to remove encroachments from religious complex, idols shifted

Four days after the stepwell roof collapse at a temple in Indore claimed 36 livers, the local administration on Monday morning launched a drive to remove encroachments from the religious complex and moved the idols of deities to another shrine.

The operation was launched at the Beleshwar Mahadev Jhulelal temple complex in Patel Nagar area in Madhya Pradesh in the presence of heavy police security and barricades were placed on roads leading to the temple, officials said.

They said action was being taken to remove encroachments from about 10,000 square feet of land around the temple premises.

Meanwhile, a temple priest present on the spot said prayers were offered to idols at the temple according to rituals and they were shifted to Kantafod temple.

After the tragedy last Thursday, an FIR was lodged against Beleshwar Mahadev Jhulelal Temple Trust president Sevaram Galani and secretary Murli Kumar Sabnani under Indian Penal Code Section 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), Juni Indore police station in-charge Neeraj Meda said.

The two accused are facing charges that they had got an unsafe construction work done by putting a roof over the stepwell, due to which 36 people lost their lives, the official said.

"The Indore Municipal Corporation had ordered the trust to remove the illegal construction at the temple complex, but the trust did not obey the order," he said.