Crime news: A priest and a ‘sevadar’ at the Baba Bharamal temple near Khatima in Uttarakhand’s Udham Singh Nagar district were allegedly beaten to death with sticks, in connection with which the police have arrested three persons on Sunday for the double murder, officials said. The accused were identified as Kalicharan, a former ‘sevadar’, Rampal, an ‘aghori’ baba, and Pawan, who is a history-sheeter from Uttar Pradesh’s Pilibhit district. According to the police, they committed the crime on the intervening night of January 4 and 5 and also took some cash and other items from the spot.
What did the police investigation reveal?
The police said that the interrogation of the accused revealed that Kalicharan and Rampal had come to a ‘bhandara’ (community kitchen) organised at the temple and both of them stayed in the temple premises after eating. At night, the duo were consuming liquor after which Baba Harigiri scolded them and they left.
Later, they conspired to kill the priest and also involved Pawan in the plan, the police said. They attacked the priest first on the day of the incident.
Rupa, the ‘sevadar’, who rushed to protest him, was killed in the attack, and another ‘sevadar’ Nanhe got injured, they added.
The police recovered Rs 4,700 in cash, a mobile and an internet dongle stolen from the priest.
Investigation was challenging: Police
The SSP said that they had to face a major challenge during the investigation as there were no CCTV cameras at the spot and the second ‘sevadar’ who sustained injuries could not give any substantial information.
The police said that they interrogated over 1,200 people and searched mor than 1,000 cameras during the investigation.
(With PTI inputs)
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