The residents gained access to a video that showed a man brandishing a rod close to the shrine where the Hanuman idol had been harmed. They claimed that some of the nearby stores had also been vandalised.

The individual could well have vandalised the idol and the stores while drunk, according to the police, and residents confirmed that he was an addict.

He has not been arrested yet.

“We are scanning CCTV footage. It is suspected that the man was intoxicated. We are looking for him,” the officer said.

“Police are trying to nab the culprit. There is peace in the area,” DCP Northwest said in a tweet.

A senior police officer claimed that villagers helped put in a new idol in the shrine.