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Temple sevadaar beaten to death over ‘a few minutes wait’ for prasad in Delhi's Kalkaji
Cops got a call in the police control room about the row at the Kalkaji temple at around 9.30 PM on Friday.
A 35-year-old sewadaar working in a temple in southeast Delhi's Kalkaji area was allegedly beaten to death following a quarrel with some people over prasad on Friday night.
The Delhi police sprang into action and nabbed one of the accused in the case.
"What I know is, around 9 PM, they took him from the Dharamshala. There were 10-15 people. They had iron rods and sticks, and they beat him to death. They were asking for prasad, and he asked them to wait for a few minutes, after which, they started threatening him... Whenever these people came to the temple, they came with an aggressive attitude and expected us to give them whatever they wanted," a sevadaar told news agency ANI.
According to officials quoted in the ANI report, cops got a call in the police control room about the row at the temple at around 9.30 PM on Friday.
The argument allegedly ensued after the accused group, who were visiting the temple, demanded 'chunniprasad' from the sewadaar, identified as Yogendra Singh, a native of Hardoi in Uttar Pradesh, who had been working as a sewadar at the temple for the last decade and a half. Chunniprasad is a combination of a sacred headscarf and a religious offering of food.
The argument soon turned violent as the group hit the victim with fists and then beat him up with sticks. The CCTV footage showed the victim on the ground while being badly beaten by at least three people with sticks.
According to Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Southeast Delhi Hemant Tiwari, the victim was rushed to the AIIMS Trauma Centre, where he succumbed to injuries during treatment.
Case filed in Kalkaji temple sevadar murder, one accused nabbed
The Delhi police have filed a case under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) Sections 103(1) (murder) and 3(5) (joint liability), which has been registered at Kalkaji police station, after the murder of the temple sevadar.
"One of the accused, identified as Atul Pandey, a resident of Dakshinpuri, was caught on the spot by the locals and handed over to the police," the DCP said. The accused is said to be 30 years old.
Police said efforts are underway to identify and nab the remaining accused.
