On the morning of Tuesday, 28 April, two priests were found dead in a temple in Pagona village in the Anupshahr area of Uttar Pradesh’s Bulandshahr district. The accused in the case was arrested by the police the same morning and an FIR has been registered at the Anupshahr police station under Section 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had directed strict action in the case as opposition leaders targeted his Bharatiya Janata Party government over the crime. Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray said the case should not be politicised.
‘Take Care of Maharashtra’: UP CM
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday, 29 April, lashed out at Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut, saying the former had dialled his Maharashtra counterpart to express concern over the lynching of two saints in Palghar last week.
The UP CM's tweet came a day after Raut wrote on Twitter about Uddhav Thackeray and Adityanath's telephonic conversation about the murder of two saints in Uttar Pradesh's Bulandshahr district. Before Thackeray's call, Adityanath had made a similar phone call to him over the lynching of two sadhus and their driver in Palghar.
‘Don’t Politicise’ Appeal Priyanka and Akhilesh
Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra also called for a thorough probe.
“Two sadhus sleeping in a temple in Bulandshahr have been killed mercilessly. There should be a thorough probe into such heinous crimes and no one should politicise these incidents at such a time," she tweeted in Hindi.
She claimed 100 people have been killed in Uttar Pradesh in the first 15 days of the month.
Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav also said that such murders should not be politicised. “The brutal killing of two sadhus in the temple complex in Bulandshahr, Uttar Pradesh is extremely condemnable and tragic. Instead of politicising such murders, there is a need to look into the criminal motive or the root cause of such violent mentality,” he tweeted.
Uddhav Thackeray Condemns Incident
Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut called the killings terrible. He appealed not to make the issue communal as they tried in Palghar, in a tweet seen as a jibe at Adityanath.
Talking to PTI, Raut said Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray spoke to the Uttar Pradesh chief minister and expressed concern over the incident. “Uddhavji said when such incidents happen, we should refrain from indulging in politics and unitedly work to punish the culprits,” Raut said.
Uddhav Thackeray also spoke to Adityanath, expressing concern over the killing. Days earlier, Adityanath had made a similar phone call to him over the lynching of two sadhus in Palghar.
The two sadhus, Jagdish (55) and Sher Singh (45), were apparently beaten up with a lathi at Paguana village's Shiva temple in Anupshahr police station area, police said. The alleged killer has been arrested.
According to Uttar Pradesh Police, Murari, also known as Raju, was accused by the sadhus two days ago of stealing a pair of tongs used by them. The youth, allegedly under the influence of cannabis, was caught near the temple soon after the two were found dead in the temple.
Senior officers rushed to the spot and questioned the man, who told them that after taking bhang on Monday (27 April) night he went to the temple and killed the sadhus with a lathi lying there.
According to one official, the intoxicated youth said he carried out God's will , denying he had any quarrel with the priests. The senior official said the youth will be interrogated at length later as he was still under the influence of the drug.
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