Hindu temple in US defaced by anti-India graffiti, cops treat it as hate crime

California, December 23

Suspected pro-Khalistan activists allegedly defaced the Swaminarayan temple in Newark, California, police said, adding that the incident came to light on Friday (local time).

The exterior wall of the Hindu temple was defaced with anti-India graffiti.

The Newark Police Service has started an investigation.

According to the temple administration, the incident took place on Thursday night.

"One of the devotees, who lives close to the shrine, discovered anti-Hindu and anti-India graffiti in black ink on an exterior wall of the building, and the local administration was immediately informed," Bhargav Raval, the spokesperson for the temple administration, told ANI.

The spokesperson said the temple authorities were shocked to find the anti-Indian graffiti on its wall.

Shedding more light on the incident, Jonathan Arguello, a police captain for the city of Newark, said the 'targeted act' was being investigated.

"Based on the graffiti, we believe it was a targeted act, and it's going to be investigated with full thoroughness. I can also tell you that as a member of the Newark Police Department and the Newark community, we're deeply saddened when these types of acts occur, and we think they're senseless and they have no room. We won't tolerate them here in Newark. So today, I wanted to make sure that you understand how seriously we take these situations and know that we will investigate as thoroughly as possible with utmost care and sensitivity. I can also tell you that officers are currently investigating this via evidence collection," the captain told reporters during a press conference.

The police official said to piece together the chain of events leading to the act of defacement, the footage from surveillance cameras in the neighbouring residences were being looked into.

"Our policies are that any acts of violence or threats of violence, property damage, harassment, intimidation, or other crimes motivated by hate or bias are considered very serious and given the utmost care. We're handling this investigation as a hate crime at this point, based on our conversations with you and the physical evidence we've seen," he said.