Security beefed up around UP temples after Gorakhpur stabbing incident

The security has been beefed up in and around several important religious places in Uttar Pradesh, including Mathura the birthplace of Lord Krishna, following the recent attack on Gorakhnath Mutt.

Mathura (Uttar Pradesh): Security has been tightened in and around important temples in Uttar Pradesh, including Mathura, following the confessional statement given to the police by the assailant Ahmed Murtaza Abbasi that he had carried out a reccee of the prominent UP temples.

Abbasi a resident of Gorakhpur and a 2015-batch graduate of the prestigious IIT (Indian Institute of Technology)-Bombay, tried to forcibly enter the temple premises on Sunday and allegedly attacked the police constables outside the gate of the Mutt while raising religious slogans.

On Monday night, ADG (security) Vinod Kumar visited Mathura to review the security preparedness. On Tuesday, the ADG convened a high-level meeting with the administrative officials of Mathura and also oversaw the security arrangements in the city. ADG Vinod Kumar conducted a surprise inspection of security preparedness at Gate numbers 1, 2, and 3 of the Mathura temple and also interacted with policemen and jawans of the CISF deputed at the spot.

Meanwhile, the accused Abbasi was produced in the civil court in Gorakhpur on Monday amid tight security arrangements after which the court sent him to 14 days of judicial custody. Police while seeking remand of Murtaza said that the accused was visiting Jamnagar, Coimbatore, and Lumbini in Nepal in recent days. Besides, he had ATM cards belonging to different banks, including Aadhaar cards. A Delhi-Mumbai flight ticket and some Islamic literature books were also recovered from him.