Image Courtesy:scroll.in
In almost what can be seen as a grim reminder of the Palghar incident, mutilated bodies of two priests were recovered from a temple in Uttar Pradesh’s Bulandshahr district, reported News 18.
According to the police, the incident happened in the wee hours of Tuesday in Pagona village under Anoopshahar Kotwali jurisdiction. The two murdered priests have been identified as Jagdish alias Rangi Das (55) and Sher Singh alias Sewa Das (35) who lived in the premises of the local Shiva temple where they were murdered.
The accused was first caught by the villagers, who beat him up before handing him over to the police. “He had consumed bhang & is still inebriated,” Bulandshahr SSP tells @iyersaishwarya, as 2 sadhus were found dead in a temple in UP’s Bulandshahr.https://t.co/lBwCUNrMfb pic.twitter.com/eImdL92kTM
— The Quint (@TheQuint) April 29, 2020
SSP Bulandshahr Kumar said, “The incident took place in Pagona village which falls under the jurisdiction of Anoopshehar police station. The two priests Jagdish and Sher Singh, who used to live in the temple had accused one of the locals, Murari alias Raju, of stealing the ‘chimta’ (tong) and had scolded him for the same a few days ago.”
Kumar added that Murari arrived at the temple with a sword on Tuesday and murdered the two saints. “The accused is an intoxicated state and we are trying to extract more information about the incident,” he added.
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
थाना अनूपशहर क्षेत्र के पगोना गांव में हुई 2 साधुओं की हत्या के संबंध में वरिष्ठ पुलिस अधीक्षक @bulandshahrpol द्वारा घटनास्थल पर पहुँचकर दी गई बाइट @Uppolice @adgzonemeerut @igrangemeerut @dmbulandshahr pic.twitter.com/C5sKr5J1ng
— Bulandshahr Police (@bulandshahrpol) April 28, 2020
District Magistrate Bulandshahr, Ravindra Kumar said that the village locals had helped the authorities and he had been arrested.
“The accused has claimed it was the will of God. He has denied using any sword and claimed that he killed the priests using a stick that was lying at the temple,” the district magistrate said.
UP CM Yogi Adityanath who has taken cognizance of the matter has ordered strict action against the accused.
In light of the incident, Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray called UP CM Adityanath over reports of the incident and requested him to take strict action against the culprits. “I spoke to U.P. CM Yogi Adityanath regarding the incident and expressed deepest concern about the same,” said Mr. Thackeray.
“I am sure that you will do the same. While we support each other in such times, I am sure that no attempt will be made to communalise the incident,” he added.
मुख्यमंत्री उद्धव बाळासाहेब ठाकरे यांनी आज उत्तर प्रदेशचे मुख्यमंत्री @myogiadityanath जी यांच्याशी फोनवर चर्चा करून उत्तर प्रदेशमधील बुलंदशहर येथे घडलेल्या दोन साधूंच्या अमानुष हत्येवरून चिंता व्यक्त केली. अशा अमानुष घटने विरुद्ध आम्ही सर्व तुमच्यासोबत आहोत.
— Office of Uddhav Thackeray (@OfficeofUT) April 28, 2020
CM Thackeray’s call is largely being seen as ‘returning the favour’ given how UP CM Adityanath had called him after the Palghar incident, in which three people, including two priests, were brutally lynched by a mob.
Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh too condemned the incident saying that the incident was quite distressing.
The killing of 2 sadhus in UP’s Bulandshahr is quite distressing. We trust @myogiadityanath will take action as swiftly as we took in #Palghar. We hope those who made inflammatory communal statements after Palghar will curb such tendencies!#ZeroToleranceForCommunalism
— ANIL DESHMUKH (@AnilDeshmukhNCP) April 28, 2020
Related: