the goan I network
MARGAO
Tension rent the air at Bapsora-Velim on Sunday over the installation of a Tulsi Vrundavan in a chapel property, even as the Goa police mobilised a huge police force to avert any law and order situation.
The issue was later diffused after the police attached the Tulsi structure and also registered a case against unknown persons for removing the religious object from the vrundavan following a complaint lodged by Subhash Tari.
The police began mobilising personnel from the Margao Sub-division and also deployed the IRB after receiving information that a large number of people will gather at the site to seek explanation over the installation of the Tulsi Vrundavan.
The police also did not take any chances after the president of the Bapsora temple committee lodged a complaint that the religious object installed in the Tulsi Vrundavan was removed by some unknown persons.
The Chaplain of Holy Cross Chapel, Fr Francis Fernandes, committee members and large number of people, who turned up at Bapsora, were cordoned off by the police and were not allowed to come near the site where the Tulsi Vrundavan was installed.
While a member of the temple committee contended that they were holding religious programmes in the property over the years, a member of the chapel committee said the issue came to the fore recently after the Tulsi Vrundavan was installed on the property.
“This property belongs to the Holy Cross Chapel, Baradi. We never had any objection to the programmes hosted by the temple committee. The committees of the chapel and the temple had met recently. It was decided that the programmes of the temple will be held only after permission from the chapel committee,” informed Piety Fernandes, who said people were shocked to see a Tulsi Vrundavan on the chapel property.
He said the people have all come at the site after the temple committee did not respond to the pleas of the chapel committee for a dialogue to resolve the issue. Piety clarified that the people have not touched the Tulsi Vrundavan and were in fact waiting for the temple committee to come and clear the issue.
Holy Cross Chaplain Fr Francis Fernandes said the chapel committee had allowed the temple committee to hold their programme, but hastened to add that while conducting the programmes, the Tulsi Vrundavan was built on the chapel property. “We have all come here and were waiting for the temple committee for a dialogue and to resolve the issue peacefully,” he said.
Additional District Collector, Agnelo Fernandes, district police Chief SP Arvind Gawas, Deputy Collector Uday Prabhudesai, DySP Serafino Dias and police officers from the Margao and Quepem sub-division all rushed to the site to diffuse the situation.
Velim Sarpanch Savio D’Silva was also present.
While Deputy Collector Uday Prabhudesai said the issue is resolved after the two parties were told to maintain status quo, the district police chief said the police attached the structure of the Tulsi Vrundavan as part of the investigations after registering a case against unknown persons for theft and removing the religious object from the vrundavan. Though the police diffused the situation, the personnel were posted in and around Bapsora-Baradi belt as a precautionary measure.
