After a 29-year wait, an idol of Lord Hanuman was eventually freed from the strong room of a police station in Bihar’s Bhojpur district. After a lengthy legal procedure, a Bihar court ordered the incarcerated idol’s “release.”
The case began on May 29, 1994, when the idols of Lord Hanuman, an ardent devotee of Lord Rama, and Saint Barbar Swami, both made of Ashtadhatu, were stolen from the Lord Sriranganath Temple in Gundi village, Barhara block.
Following this, Janeshwar Dwivedi, the priest of the then Krishnagarh OP shrine, filed a FIR against unnamed thieves, accusing them of idol theft. Police recovered the stolen idols from a well after conducting an inquiry.
Since then, the idols have been stored in the strong room of a nearby police station.
The Bihar State Religious Trust Board (BSRTB) had also filed a public interest litigation (PIL) in the Patna High Court, seeking a direction that all recovered idols be returned to the Trust.
The idols were eventually released after a long legal battle after the court passed an order.
Following the release order given by ADJ-3 Satendra Singh of the Arrah civil court, devotees staged a grand procession to take the idols from the police station and tour the surrounding area. Both Ashtadhatu statues will be restored to Lord Srirangnath Temple.
The battle for the release of the idols was waged by Acharya Kishore Kunal, former chairman of the BSRTB, and Ajit Kumar Dubey, advocate of the Arrah Civil Court.
Meanwhile, Krishna Kumar Singh, the head of East Gundi Panchayat, who was leading a grand procession following Lord Hanuman’s release, stated, “Today is a historic day where another Ram Navami festival is taking place. The entire region is experiencing a wave of happiness.”
“It is a matter of great pleasure that the deity is being taken out of the Malkhana and installed in the temple where devotees will directly see and worship him,” Krishnagarh OP Incharge Brajesh Singh stated.
