Much ado over sculptures

Shopping for temple sculptures and accessories turned out to be a bitter affair for a realtor and a handicrafts wholesaler in Bengaluru after the two of them got into a tiff over a token advance of Rs 4,000. The realtor was constructing a temple worth Rs 1.5 crore worth in Kanakapura.

Shivanegowda, a resident of Konankunte is a secretary of the newly constructed Sri Maramma Devi Devasthana constructed at Sri Maramma Devi Devasthana at Haroshivanahalli in Kanakapura. As the temple’s inauguration and Kumbabhisheka is on February 6 and 7, Shivanegowda and his friend Rajanna set out to shop some sculptures that were a part of temple exteriors and designs. They approached the Mandoth Sales Corporation on BVK Iyengar Road in Chickpet where they found the sculptures and other accessories.

According to Shivanegowda, the handicraft wholesaler said the cost of each copper sculpture would be Rs 42,000, and he had ordered for four such copper sculptures along with other accessories totally quoted for Rs 3.5 lakh. Shivanegowda paid a token advance of Rs 4,000 and told them he would come back to get his order. However, later they found out that the same copper sculptures were available in Trichy in Tamil Nadu for Rs 9,000 each. Being a secretary, Shivanegowda and Rajanna made a trip to Trichy and purchased everything including the accessories for a total of Rs 1.4 lakh.

They then returned to the handicrafts wholesale dealer in Bengaluru and confronted them with the ones that were available in Tamil Nadu for cheap. However, the wholesaler said that their shop was iconic and has been operating in the city for the past 40 years and they had not got any complaints. “We also told him that the difference in price was due to the quality, weight and thickness of copper which is way more rich than that of the ones from Tamil Nadu,“ said Mukesh Jain, brother of the owner of Mandoth Sales Corporation.

Shivanegowda then asked that the token advance of Rs 4,000 be returned, for which the wholesaler asked for a receipt. Shivanegowda told them that he had left the receipt in their shop and demanded that they return the money or he would take something from the shop worth Rs 4,000. When the shop owner refused, Shivanegowda allegedly made a ruckus using expletives. Heated arguments ensued after which both the parties roughed up each other.

Shivanegowda approached the City Market police station and filed a complaint. Later the Jain brothers also approached the police and filed a complaint against Shivanegowda for assaulting, wrongfully restraining and intimidating them.