New Delhi/Ghaziabad: A man was arrested for entering Raghunath temple here in Masuri town with a country-made pistol and other weapons in his bag, police said on Monday. The incident has been shared with the ant-terror squad (ATS) and the Intelligence Bureau (IB) who quizzed him to understand his motive with a false identity and weapons.
At the time of entry, the man had said his name was Sameer Sharma. The incident happened Sunday night when a religious discourse was underway inside the temple in Ikla village. The man was not able to corroborate his reason for visit which raised a suspicion among the temple volunteers.
"When the volunteers who had detained the man, checked his bag, they found in it a country-made pistol, cartridges, sharp weapons, an Aadhaar card, and two mobile phones," Superintendent of Police (Rural) Iraj Raja said. The SP said that keeping in view of the festival season and the incident, security has been beefed up in the area.
The man during sustained interrogation identified himself as Aas Mohammad, a native of Palla village of Gautam Buddh Nagar district and he had confessed that one Salim had paid him for Rs 70,000 to "pay" a visit to the temple, according to sources. The mahamandelshwar (main priest) Prabuddha Anand Giri of the temple alleged that the arrested suspect had been hired to kill him and other saints who were part of the religious discourse Sunday night. (with Agency inputs)
