Bengal murder suspect held for attacking priest in east Delhi

A 22-year-old murder suspect from West Bengal was arrested for attacking a priest with a screwdriver in Delhi. The suspect was caught stealing the priest's purse. He confessed to the murder of a man in West Bengal days before the attack.

A 22-year-old man, who was wanted in a murder case in West Bengal, was arrested for allegedly attacking a priest with a screwdriver at a temple in the Geeta Colony area of east Delhi in the early hours of Tuesday.

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The incident took place when the suspect, Kismat Sheikh, was caught stealing the priest’s purse that had ₹250 inside it, police officials aware of the matter said on Friday.

Police said that after interrogating Sheikh, it was revealed that he had brutally murdered a man in West Bengal’s Murshidabad district just five days before (on December 19) attacking the priest in Delhi. Sheikh suspected that the Bengal victim, Jamshed Sheikh, 62, was involved in the murder of his mother a few years ago, the officers added.

Deputy commissioner of police (Shahdara) Rohit Meena said that around 4am on Tuesday, Sandeep Shastri, the priest of Geeta Bhawan Mandir in Sarojini Park, was sleeping on the first floor of the temple. After being woken up by a noise, he found that an unidentified man was stealing his purse.

“As Shastri tried to catch him, the suspect attacked him with the screwdriver. However, with the help of his employee, Ashish Kumar, Sheikh was overpowered,” said DCP Meena.

Preliminary probe revealed that Sheikh was previously involved in at least eight burglaries and theft cases that took place between 2019 and 2020 in Jagatpuri area of east Delhi. In 2021, he went back to his hometown in Murshidabad and committed a robbery in which he was arrested and sent to a local jail. He was released from jail around two months ago.