Charged with 'Stealing Tongs', Man Kills 2 Sadhus Inside Bulandshahr Temple

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Charged with 'Stealing Tongs', Man Kills 2 Sadhus Inside Bulandshahr Temple
The murder came to light when people reached the temple on Tuesday morning and saw the blood-soaked bodies.
Qazi Faraz Ahmad | News18@qazifarazahmadUpdated:April 28, 2020, 3:47 PM ISTfacebookTwitter Pocket
Charged with 'Stealing Tongs', Man Kills 2 Sadhus Inside Bulandshahr Temple The Shiva temple where the bodies were found.
Lucknow: Days after the brutal lynching of two sadhus in Maharashtra’s Palghar district, two saints were found murdered inside a temple in Pagona village of Uttar Pradesh’s Bulandshahr on Tuesday. The incident came to light after village locals discovered their blood-soaked bodies and informed the police. A man, who was accused of theft by the priests, has been arrested.

Speaking to media, SSP Bulandshahr Santosh 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.

District Magistrate Bulandshahr, Ravindra Kumar said, that the accused has been arrested and that the village locals had helped authorities nab the person.

“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.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has taken cognizance of the incident and directed the district officials to reach the site of crime and inform him of the investigations. He has also ordered strict action against the accused.

Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray dialed CM Yogi later in the day and sought punishment for the guilty. "We shouldn't politicise during times of such gruesome crimes. We must punish the guilty," he said.

Meanwhile, Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi attacked the state government over the law and order situation and demanded an impartial inquiry into the matter. Congress Working Committee member and former Union Minister Jitin Prasada demanded the resignation of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. Prasada in a press statement said, "It's time that the chief minister should step down as law and order situation is worsening day by day." The Brahmin leader of UP has been accusing the government of targeted killing of Brahmins in the state and said that the government is trying to cover up such cases.

“In the first 15 days of April more than 100 people were murdered in Uttar Pradesh. Three days back, five members of Pachouri family were found dead under mysterious circumstances in Etah district of UP, nobody knows what happened with them. Today, two priests were brutally killed in UP’s Bulandshahr. Such heinous crimes should be thoroughly investigated and nobody should politicise the matter,” she said. Priyanka added that the government should ensure an impartial investigation into the case.

Samajwadi Party chief and former UP chief minister Akhilesh Yadav also condemned the killings and demanded a thorough probe.

“The murder of two sadhus in Bulandshahar is sad and highly condemnable. Instead of politicising the issue, a thorough investigation must be done to ascertain the criminal mentality and violent behaviour. Legal and timely action should be taken based on this investigation.”



Uddhav Thackeray Calls Yogi Adityanath Over Murders Of 2 Sadhus In UP
Bulandshahr: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has asked for strict action against the killer.
All IndiaReported by Alok Pandey, Edited by Deepshikha GhoshUpdated: April 28, 2020 03:47 pm IST
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Bulandshahr Police: The sadhus were killed at a temple where they were staying temporarily.


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Bulandshahr: The murder of two sadhus inside a temple at Uttar Pradesh's Bulandshahr has snowballed into a political controversy days after two sadhus were killed by a mob in Maharashtra.
The sadhus, 52 and 35, were killed on Monday night, allegedly by a man they had berated and accused of theft. A man called Raju has been arrested and charged with murder, the police said.

"Raju said he had bhang (cannabis) and went 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 lathis," Ravindra Kumar, a senior government official, said.

"The accused claimed it was the will of God," Mr Kumar told reporters.

The Uttar Pradesh police have denied any communal angle in the murders. The accused man was still "high" and would be questioned when he was coherent, a police officer said.

"The two babas lived here at the temple. One person named Murai alias Raju, who belongs to a scheduled caste, took away a ''chimta'' (tongs) for which he was scolded and abused by the priests. After the murder, villagers were looking for him and spotted him drugged with bhang," a senior police officer, Santosh Kumar Singh, said.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has asked for a report on the killings.

He was among the BJP leaders who had demanded an inquiry after the mob-killing of two Sadhus in Maharashtra's Palghar, which, a section suggested, was a communal attack.

Maharashtra's Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress coalition had denounced what it called attempts to whip up tension in the middle of the coronavirus crisis. The Sadhus and their driver were attacked and killed by a mob on April 16 allegedly over rumours that they were involved in the kidnapping of children for organs. State Home Minister Anil Deshmukh said 101 people were arrested for the killings and not a single accused was Muslim.

Despite the Maharashtra government's emphatic denial of any communal link, several BJP leaders raised questions. Home Minister Amit Shah called Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and asked him to take tough action.

Yogi Adityanath had also dialed his Maharashtra counterpart and later told the media that he had called for strict action.

Today, Uddhav Thackeray returned the call. "Have spoken to Yogi Adityanath over phone and discussed the incident. I told him we are with you against such a heinous crime. Just the way we acted upon and nabbed the accused, I wish you would do the same and avoid giving this a communal angle," Uddhav Thackeray tweeted.

Many Sena leaders have tweeted on the killings, warning against giving it a communal twist.

"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 Sanjay Raut.

Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra tweeted that the UP killings should not be politicized and the accused should be punished.