Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan's family priest was caught in a fight between the police and the priests at the Vindhyavasini temple in Uttar Pradesh’s Vindhyachal on Sunday, according to a report by LiveHindustan.
The clashes erupted after policemen escorted the Chandauli district magistrate and his family to the temple and performed prayers despite the weekend lockdown. Seeing the DM offering the puja, the priests also expressed their willingness to perform the puja to which the police officers at the spot opposed. There have been no cases registered in the matter so far.
The district magistrate of Chandauli reached the Vindhyavasini temple on Sunday morning at around 11am with the police to perform a darshan. Bachhan family priest Amit Pandey also reached the temple with other priests to perform the same following which clashes erupted and the police beat up the priest, the report said. The video of the clash also went viral on social media.
{{/usCountry}}The district magistrate of Chandauli reached the Vindhyavasini temple on Sunday morning at around 11am with the police to perform a darshan. Bachhan family priest Amit Pandey also reached the temple with other priests to perform the same following which clashes erupted and the police beat up the priest, the report said. The video of the clash also went viral on social media.
{{/usCountry}}Amit Pandey performs pujas for Amitabh Bachchan’s family and also performed pujas for the Gandhi family, brother of the priest Sumit Pandey said.
“Police deliberately did this. Protesting priests are also implicated in false cases. We are very respected in the community,” said Sumit Pandey. Rajan Pathak, former president of Panda Samaj, also condemned the incident and said that every worshipper is equal in the eyes of the almighty. He also said that the temple does not discriminate against anyone.
Additional superintendent of police Sanjay Verma denied the incident and said that no policeman escorted any official for performing puja in the temple. “A priest performed darshan puja and when Amit Pandey started taking other visitors for the darshan puja, police opposed,” Verma was quoted as saying by LiveHindustan.