Police on Monday evening announced the arrest of four minor boys who allegedly vandalised the Mata Deval Bhittani temple in a village near Thar's Chhachro town.

A first information report (FIR) was registered earlier in the day against four unidentified people for their involvement in the incident.

According to the FIR — registered on the directions of Thar Senior Superintendent of Police Abdullah Ahmedyar — the temple was vandalised by four unidentified people on Sunday night, who also desecrated idols of deities. A complaint of the incident was lodged by a citizen Prem Kumar.

In the evening, the Tharparkar police in a press release stated that four young boys, aged 15, 13, 13 and 12, were arrested for vandalising the place of worship. All the suspects belong to the village of Alanabad near Chhachro.

The boys while confessing to the crime stated that they carried out the act to steal money from the temple, the police statement said.

Chhachro Station House Officer Hussain Bux Rajar had earlier said that the police were looking for the culprits and had sought help from "local experts" who were examining the footprints of the miscreants to identify them.

The FIR was registered under Sections 295 (injuring or defiling place of worship, with intent to insult the religion of any class), 436 (mischief by fire or explosive substance with intent to destroy house), 427 (mischief causing damage to the amount of fifty rupees) and 34 (mischief by destroying or moving, etc., a landmark fixed by public authority) of the Pakistan Penal Code.

Commenting on the incident, Advocate Veerji Kolhi, special assistant to Sindh chief minister on human rights, said that the miscreants had meant to disturb communal peace in the area and urged people of all communities to stay calm. He promised that those responsible will be taken to task.