Banda (UP): A temple priest was allegedly bludgeoned to death in the Dehat Kotwali area here, police said on Thursday. Shatrughan Tiwari (60), who was a priest in the Ramjanaki temple of Mahokhar village, was sleeping in his house in Mahokhar village when unidentified persons attacked him with a sharp-edged weapon Wednesday night, Station House Officer of Dehat Kotwali police station Mithlesh Kumar said.
His blood-soaked body was found on Thursday morning, the SHO said. Senior officials, including Superintendent of Police Abhinandan, inspected the spot. A case has been registered and investigation launched, Kumar said.
Meanwhile, In another similar incident, a priest was killed with a sharp weapon under the Mirtur police station limits in Chhattishgarh's Bijapur district earlier this month. The deceased priest identified as Rama Kadti. On getting the information about the incident, the police reached the spot.
The dead body of the priest was handed over to the relatives following postmortem. Initially, the Naxalites were suspected in the incidents but the police eventually found enmity as the reason for the incident. The police are investigating the priest's killing from all angles. They are also probing whether the deceased victim has disputes with anybody and whether there were mutual attacks in the past. Since the killing took place during night hours, the involvement of dacoits is not ruled out. (With Agency Inputs)
