Surat: Dindoli police have booked 12 persons, including five women, for allegedly trespassing into the Sahajanand Mahadev Charitable Trust premises and demolishing its compound wall in an apparent bid to grab the land.

The accused also allegedly placed a Buddha idol near the proposed temple site to stake claim over the plot. According to trust administrator Hitesh Vishwakarma (40), the society’s landowner, Jayesh Patel, had allotted two open plots to the trust for construction of a temple and gaushala and granted him power of attorney to manage the property.

Temple construction has been underway since 2023. Vishwakarma alleged that society member Anil Sonawane and his associates installed the Buddha idol without permission. Suspecting encroachment, he approached the collector’s office in October 2025 and asked Sonawane to remove the idol, but the request was allegedly refused.

He later removed the idol himself. On February 14, Vishwakarma was informed that a group had entered the premises after demolishing the compound wall. At the site, he allegedly found Sonawane, his brother Dhiraj, their mother Sunanda, and several relatives and associates inside the compound, carrying hammers and spades.

Police have registered offences of criminal trespass, unlawful assembly, and damage to property against all 12 accused. DeshGujarat