Bulandshahr, April 28, 2020: The police in Uttar Pradesh’s Bulandshahr district have arrested a person in connection with the death of two Hindu ascetics.
The “saints” were found dead in the morning of April 28 in a temple in Pagona village in the Anupshahr area of the northern Indian district. The accused was arrested soon after and a First Information Report has been registered at the Anupshahr police station under Section 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code.
Bulandshahr Senior Superintendent of Police Santosh Kumar Singh said the deceased were Jagdish alias Rangi Das, 55, and Sher Singh, 35. They arrested Morari urf Raju, Dalit, of the same village, who had allegedly stolen a chimta (a musical instrument used during prayers) of one of the priests two days ago. The priests had scolded Raju, who killed the priests with a stick after getting high on cannabis April 27 night.
Raju was found around 2 km from the temple, still high on drugs and in barely any clothes.
“The accused claimed it was the will of God,” said Ravindra Kumar, a senior government official.
“Raju said he had bhang and then came into the temple and murdered the priests. We asked him about reports he attacked the sadhus with a sword but the accused claims he only used lathi (stick),” Kumar told reporters.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has asked for strict action in the case, which comes days after the mob-killing of two Sadhus and their driver in Maharashtra, which exploded into a political controversy over allegation by a section that it was a communal attack. Maharashtra’s Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress coalition denounced what it called attempts to whip up tension in the middle of the coronavirus crisis.
The Uttar Pradesh police have denied anything communal about the Bulandshahr killing. The accused man was still “high” and would be questioned when he was coherent, a police officer said.
“Terrible! Killing of two saints, sadhus at a temple in Bulandshahar, UP, but I appeal to all concerned to not make it communal the way they tried to make Palghar, Maharashtra incident,” tweeted Shvi Sena MP Sanjay Raut.
Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra tweeted that the UP killings should not be politicized and the accused should be punished.
Bulandshahr SSP said he mentioned the case of the accused as media often “misrepresents news by giving it a false communal color and motive. The reason I had to mention the caste is to highlight that the accused and victims belong to the same community (Hindus).”
Hundreds from nearby villages gathered when the murder accused was handed over by the villagers to the Bulandshahr police. Photos show Raju bleeding, and Singh said the villagers had beaten him up, “The villagers caught him first and beat the accused up. They had inkling about him being the accused as they knew about the fight as well.”
About hundreds of people from the village had gathered when the accused was handed over to the police.
Source: thequint.com and ndtv.com