In what can only be termed as a chilling reminder of the unfortunate Palghar Mob Lynching incident, two priests were now found murdered in Uttar Pradesh’s Bulanshahr district in the wee hours of Tuesday. The mutiliated bodies of the priests were recovered from a temple in the Pagona village under the Anoopshahar Kotwali jurisdiction of the district.
The two priests have been identified as Sadhu Jaandas (55) and Sevadas (35), both of who were residents of the village and had been serving the Shiva temple there for the past ten years. Their bodies were discovered by the locals on Monday when they visited the temple, following which they reported the matter to the police.
According to sources, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has personally taken cognizance of the matter and has directed the senior officials in the district to launch an investigation on an immediate basis, send a detailed report from the ground and take strict action against the accused.
Initial probe by the police indicate that the sadhus were murdered with a sharp weapon. The bodies of the two seers have also been sent for post-mortem and the report is awaited.
The Bulandshahr Police have found out that two days back, the priests had a minor conflict with a man named Murari, alias Raju, because the latter had allegedly stolen a ‘chimta’ (tongs) when he visited the temple. It is likely that he was being admonished by the priests for it, which could likely have led to the murder since the man in question is an opium addict.
थाना अनूपशहर क्षेत्र के पगोना गांव में हुई 2 साधुओं की हत्या के संबंध में वरिष्ठ पुलिस अधीक्षक @bulandshahrpol द्वारा दी गई बाइट @Uppolice @adgzonemeerut @igrangemeerut @dmbulandshahr pic.twitter.com/hsKiEYVfan
— Bulandshahr Police (@bulandshahrpol) April 28, 2020
The possible deduction is corroborated by reports that the locals in the village had apparently spotted Murari leaving the village in the morning with a sword in hand.
The cops arrested Murari, the prime suspect in this case, after tracing him to 2 km from the crime spot in the village. The SSP of Bulandshahr, Santosh Kumar Singh, said that Murari was in an inebriated state and barely had any clothes on, not in a condition to divulge any details.
Further investigation is underway.
The incident comes days after an angry mob at the Palghar village in Maharashtra lynched to death three persons, including two sadhus, under suspicion of them being thieves. The mob, consisting of local tribal villagers, also attacked police personnel when they tried to stop the rampaging mob and some policemen also sustained injuries in the incident.
Source: dnaindia.com