New York, Jun 9 (IANS): A US court has issued a temporary order of protection against a Long Island pharmacist following his alleged assault on the president of New York Kali Mandir Hindu Temple, an elderly, disabled left-leg amputee.

According to court documents pharmacist Suman Saha was arraigned in Nassau county criminal court Monday before Judge Douglas LeRose where the temporary order of protection was issued for allegedly assaulting Ajoy Nayak, 72, president of Baldwin, New York, based temple.

The order prohibits Saha from having any contact with Nayak and requires him to return on June 14 to Nassau County district court in front of Judge Sharon Gianelli.

Nayak has alleged he was physically attacked on May 13, 2012 in a locked room by Saha and several other fellow officials of the temple to cover up Nayak's discovery of inappropriate financial dealings by the temple's previous president Kumar Sankar Mandal.

In a statement Nayak stated: "I have spent the early part of my tenure as president of New York Kali Mandir trying to clarify our financial position, and ensure a successful and secure resource for our Hindu community there.

"It is shocking and disheartening that members of our religious community would not only misappropriate the funds of our temple, but then resort to thuggery and violence in order to try to cover it up.

"This is a sad time for our community, but I urge members to come together in peace and harmony and demonstrate that these behaviours are not demonstrative of our beliefs and culture and will not be tolerated by our community."