Authorities looking for two suspects involved in vandalism of Ontario temple | World News

Canadian law enforcement is investigating vandalism at a Hindu temple in an Ontario town as a hate-motivated incident and is looking for two suspects caught on surveillance camera.

The incident occurred in the early hours of Wednesday morning, targeting BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir in Windsor, Ontario.

Surveillance video showed two suspects, one spray-painting graffiti on the walls of the temple, while the other watched from the sidelines. Both appear to be wearing black clothing and masks.

In a news release issued Wednesday, the Windsor Police Department said it was “investigating vandalism at a local Hindu temple as a hate-motivated incident.”

It said officers were dispatched to the temple on Wednesday “after receiving reports of hate-motivated vandalism”.

“Officials discovered anti-Hindu and anti-India graffiti on the exterior walls of the building,” the release said.

During the investigation, police recovered video showing the two suspects.

One of the suspects was wearing a black sweater, black pants with a small white logo on his left leg, and black and white high-top running shoes. The other was wearing black pants, a sweatshirt, black shoes and white socks.

Police are also asking for help from the public, asking residents near the temple to review home surveillance and dashcam footage from before and after the desecration “to find evidence of the suspect”.

A spokesman for the BAPS organization told Hindustan Times on Wednesday that they were “very appalled by the anti-India graffiti on the walls of our temples”.

“The incident has been reported to the local police so they can take the necessary action immediately,” a representative of the BAPS group said in an email to members of the Canadian Hindu Federation. Dela Mody’s catchphrase.

It is the fifth time a temple has been defaced with such graffiti since July last year.

On February 14, the target was Shri Ram Mandir in Mississauga Township, GTA. The spray-painted slogans included attacks on India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and a description of Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, founder of the separatist Khalistan movement, as ” Martyrs” slogan.

The Gauri Shankar Mandir in Brampton was similarly desecrated on 30 January. This follows the defacement of the Mahatma Gandhi statue at the Vishnu Shrine in Richmond Hill last July. The 20-foot-tall bronze statue is located in the temple’s Peace Park. A few weeks later, in September, vandalism occurred at the main entrance of BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir in Toronto.