Communal tension prevailed in Raituiya village in the district here when four persons allegedly beat a temple priest and damaged the idols there, police said today.
District Magistrate Virendra Kumar Singh said that out of the four accused, three were arrested in the night and damaged idols have been removed and process is on to install the new ones.
The incident took place last night when the priest Anil Pandit was cleaning the temple under Aonla police station area when four persons Hasnain, Nadeem, Meseem and Firasat entered there in an inebriated state and beat him badly. They also damaged the idols, police said.
Anil somehow managed to flee and reached the village after which agitated villagers also indulged in brick batting with the rival faction, they said.
Heavy force has been deployed in the village, the DM said.