The Hospet court in Karnataka ordered the four accused to re-erect the pillars and slapped Rs 70,000 fine each
Hampi: A Hospet court in Karnataka fined four men for vandalising pillars at the Vishnu temple complex in world heritage site Hampi and also ordered them to re-erect the pillars.
The four accused Ayush, Raja Babu Chowdary, Raj Aryan and Rajesh Kumar Chowdary were taken to the spot and were made to re-erect the pillars in the presence of Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) officials and the Hampi police inspector, additional public prosecutor Geetha Mirajkar said.
All the four were fined Rs 70,000 each. The four accused were released from judicial custody on February 14.
“The maximum punishment for the act is two years imprisonment or fine up to Rs 1 lakh,” Mirajkar said.
“Offenders will have to serve the jail term if they are unable to pay the fine,” she added.
A video of three men vandalising the pillar went viral on social media. The accused, Ayush posted the video on his Instagram account and later removed the post.
Netizens were outraged over the incident and called for strict action against them. Ballari superintendent of police (SP) Arun Rangarajan formed four teams to arrest the miscreants after the ASI registered a complaint. The four were arrested from Madhya Pradesh, Bengaluru and Hyderabad on February 8.
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