35-yr-old priest shot at in UP’s Gonda over land dispute critical: Police

The priest, identified as Samrat Das, has been referred to the trauma centre of King George’s Medical University in Lucknow after being given primary treatment at the Gonda district hospital. His condition is said to be critical, the officials said.

A 35-year-old priest in Uttar Pradesh’s Gonda district was allegedly shot at while sleeping in the Ram Janki temple early on Sunday morning, police officials said.

The priest, identified as Samrat Das, has been referred to the trauma centre of King George’s Medical University in Lucknow after being given primary treatment at the Gonda district hospital. His condition is said to be critical, the officials said.

According to police, the attack was the fall out of a land dispute.

The head priest of the temple, Baba Sitaram Das, has alleged in his statement to the police that a local muscleman, Amar Singh, was trying to grab over 150 bigha land of the temple trust.

Singh, the priest alleged, had planned an attack on him in the past and was also responsible for Sunday morning’s attack on Samrat Das.

He said a similar attack was carried out against him last year, and a police investigation in the case was still ongoing.

Das said that the police had even deployed two constables for his security post the attack but the security cover was removed under Singh’s influence, he alleged. Later two home guards were posted at the temple entrance, he said.

The miscreants shot Samrat Das while he was sleeping at around 2.30 am and fled the scene, the head priest told the police.

The incident occurred when two home guards were deployed for the security of the head priest at the temple’s entrance , said the head priest.

Gonda superintendent of police (SP) Shailesh Kumar Pandey said an FIR under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 307 (attempt to murder) and 120-B (criminal conspiracy) has been registered against four people in the matter at Etiathok police station and two suspects have been taken into custody.