PONDA: The court decision to grant bail to two brothers, who allegedly created ruckus inside Mallikarjun temple at Betki-Khandola on Tuesday morning and also assaulted some villagers with a sword, irked villagers, who staged dharna at the Ponda police station on Wednesday evening.
Hundreds of villagers of Betki-Khandola marched to the Ponda police station after the court order and staged dharna charging police of lapses in the case. Villagers accused police of imposing inappropriate section. To prevent untoward incident, police locked the gates of the police station.
Ponda JMFC has granted conditional bail to the accused brothers Gurudas Gaude and Gokuldas Gaude.
The court, in its order, has released the duo on a condition that they stay away from the village for 11 days and report to the police station twice a day. Earlier, hundreds of villagers from Betki-Khandola had gathered outside the JMFC court, Ponda during the hearing on the duo’s bail plea.
Villagers left from the dharna site after around two hours after DySP Sunita Sawant intimated them that they can meet her on Thursday. It may be recalled that tension had erupted at Mallikarjun temple, at Betki-Khandola on Tuesday morning after a local removed the idol of Lord Mallikarjun and injured three villagers with a sword during a scuffle with devotees over Dussehra rituals. Gurudas Gaude is a government servant.