Karauli: Police on Friday arrested the prime accused in connection with the incident where a temple priest succumbed to his injuries on Thursday night after he was allegedly burnt alive by few people during a scuffle over temple land encroachment at Bukna village of Sapotra in Rajasthan's Karauli district.
The main accused has been identified as Kailash Meena.
According to the Karauli Superintendent of Police (SP) Mridul Kachawa, the accused was arrested within 24-hours of the incident taking place.
The priest, Babulal Vaishnav, in the FIR registered at Sapotra police station had said that he, along with his family, used to do farming on the 15 acres of hilly land which was levelled by them within the premises of Radha Gopal temple. Kailash Meena wanted to grab the land to make his own house. On Thursday, he had come to build a thatch-roof house on the piece of land. Upon being stopped by the priest, they took out the petrol from a motorbike and burnt a portion of the tent put up in the field. They pushed Babulal inside the tent who was engulfed by the flames and was burnt badly.
On hearing his cries, Babulal's nephew rushed to the spot and the priest was taken to Sawai Man Singh (SMS) Hospital where he succumbed to his injuries.
According to Karauli SP, several teams had been formed under the supervision of Additional SP Prakash Chand, for nabbing the accused.
Due to the prompt action, the prime accused was arrested within 24-hours while the search for the others is still underway.
Earlier in the day, family members of the deceased and many social activists including villagers protested outside the morgue of SMS Hospital. They were resisting the medical team on conducting the post-mortem of Babulal.
Read:| Rival groups clash in Bareilly land dispute
Seeing the situation worsening, Jaipur Police Commissionerate's top officials reached the spot and assured the people of help.
Additional Police Commissioner Law and Order Rahul Prakash said, "A letter of demand given by the protestors has been handed over to the authorities. The demands included the arrest of the absconding accused at the earliest and we have provided police protection to the family of the deceased. The role of the local SSO is also suspicious in the case. An investigation report on the local SHO will be presented to the headquarters within 24 hours. The protesters have also demanded a fair probe into the matter through another circle hence a DYSP rank officer is investigating the matter."
After getting assurance from the police, the family members allowed doctors to conduct a post-mortem and later took the body for final rites.
In an exclusive interaction with ETV Bharat, Vimla Devi, wife of the Babulal, has informed that the accused have warned them of setting them ablaze. She alleged that the administration has failed to take any concrete step to nab the culprits as they are roaming freely posing a threat to their lives.
There is huge opposition from BJP and various other organisations including the Brahmin community have warned to protest at Karauli Collectorate. The incident is being strongly condemned on social media. Deputy Leader of the Opposition Rajendra Singh Rathore, MLA from Sapotra Ramesh Chandra Meena and MLA Ramlal Jat have expressed grief over the incident through their tweets.
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करौली जिले के सपोटरा में मंदिर के पुजारी को जिंदा जलाकर मौत के घाट उतार देने के मामले की जितनी निंदा की जाए, जितना दुःख जताया जाए, कम है।#Karauli #Rajasthan
— Vasundhara Raje (@VasundharaBJP) October 9, 2020 " class="align-text-top noRightClick twitterSection" data="
">करौली जिले के सपोटरा में मंदिर के पुजारी को जिंदा जलाकर मौत के घाट उतार देने के मामले की जितनी निंदा की जाए, जितना दुःख जताया जाए, कम है।#Karauli #Rajasthan
— Vasundhara Raje (@VasundharaBJP) October 9, 2020करौली जिले के सपोटरा में मंदिर के पुजारी को जिंदा जलाकर मौत के घाट उतार देने के मामले की जितनी निंदा की जाए, जितना दुःख जताया जाए, कम है।#Karauli #Rajasthan
— Vasundhara Raje (@VasundharaBJP) October 9, 2020
Meanwhile, the state's former Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje has condemned the incident and urged the state government to "wake up from its slumber and ensure strict punishment to the culprits."
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#Rajasthan में अपराध का ग्राफ जिस गति से बढ़ रहा है, उससे एक बात तो स्पष्ट है कि यहां महिलाएं, बच्चे, बूढ़े, दलित, व्यापारी कोई भी सुरक्षित नहीं है। राज्य की कांग्रेस सरकार को अब अपनी गहरी नींद को त्यागते हुए दोषियों को सख्त सजा दिलाकर परिवार को तुरंत न्याय दिलाना चाहिए।#Karauli
— Vasundhara Raje (@VasundharaBJP) October 9, 2020 " class="align-text-top noRightClick twitterSection" data="
">#Rajasthan में अपराध का ग्राफ जिस गति से बढ़ रहा है, उससे एक बात तो स्पष्ट है कि यहां महिलाएं, बच्चे, बूढ़े, दलित, व्यापारी कोई भी सुरक्षित नहीं है। राज्य की कांग्रेस सरकार को अब अपनी गहरी नींद को त्यागते हुए दोषियों को सख्त सजा दिलाकर परिवार को तुरंत न्याय दिलाना चाहिए।#Karauli
— Vasundhara Raje (@VasundharaBJP) October 9, 2020#Rajasthan में अपराध का ग्राफ जिस गति से बढ़ रहा है, उससे एक बात तो स्पष्ट है कि यहां महिलाएं, बच्चे, बूढ़े, दलित, व्यापारी कोई भी सुरक्षित नहीं है। राज्य की कांग्रेस सरकार को अब अपनी गहरी नींद को त्यागते हुए दोषियों को सख्त सजा दिलाकर परिवार को तुरंत न्याय दिलाना चाहिए।#Karauli
— Vasundhara Raje (@VasundharaBJP) October 9, 2020
"The incident of burning a priest alive in Karauli district's Sapotra is highly condemnable. No amount of grief is enough for this. One thing is clear from this that the way, in which Rajasthan's crime graph is increasing, no woman, child, senior citizens, Dalits, traders are safe anymore. The state's Congress government should wake up from its deep slumber and mete out strict punishment to the culprits, ensuring justice to the victim's family," Raje's tweet, translated in English from Hindi, read.
