After Palghar, two seers murdered in UP’s Bulandshahr, CM Yogi Adityanath seeks detailed report

LUCKNOW: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has taken cognizance of the alleged murder of two priests whose dead bodies were found at the Pagon village’s temple in Bulandshahr late on Monday. 

Zee Media sources said on Tuesday that the Chief Minister has directed the top UP Police officials and the Bulandshahr District Magistrate to investigate the case thoroughly and submit a detailed report about the incident at the earliest.

The Bulandshahr Police has meanwhile launched an investigation into the matter. The bodies of the two seers have also been sent for post-mortem and the report is awaited.

The dead bodies of the two priests were spotted by the locals when they visited the temple on Monday after which they reported the matter to the police.

The two priests were identified as Sadhu Jagandas (55-year-old) and Sevadas (35-year-old). The priests were the resident of Anupshahr’s village Pagona and were serving in the temple for the past 10 years.

After an initial investigation, the Bulandshahr Police has said that “two days back the priests had a minor conflict with a man who visited the temple and that has possibly led to the murder of the duo but the investigation is underway and still the motive is unknown.”

थाना अनूपशहर क्षेत्र के पगोना गांव में हुई 2 साधुओं की हत्या के संबंध में वरिष्ठ पुलिस अधीक्षक @bulandshahrpol द्वारा दी गई बाइट @Uppolice @adgzonemeerut @igrangemeerut @dmbulandshahr pic.twitter.com/hsKiEYVfan — Bulandshahr Police (@bulandshahrpol) April 28, 2020

The polica has also arrested one person in connection with the murder, One person has been taken into custody and is being interrogated, said Santosh Kumar Singh, SSP Bulandshahr. The priests were allegedly killed with a sword, the SSP said.

"The two priests used to live here at the temple. One person named Murai alias Raju who is a cannabis addict and who frequently visited the temple apparently took away a `chimta` (tong) for which he was chided by the priests. For that, he killed them using a sword. Villagers also spotted Murari going outside the village," Singh said.

The accused was arrested two kilometres from the village where he was found in an inebriated state, the SSP said.

The latest incident of killing of two seers comes days after three men, including two seers, were killed by a mob in Gadchinchle village of Dahanu tehsil in the Palghar district of Maharashtra of April 16.    

Two sadhus with their driver were going by car from Mumbai to Surat to attend a funeral. Their names were Mahant Kalpavruksha Giri (70), Sushilgiri Maharaj (35), and Naresh Yelgade. 

They apparently did not have a lockdown travel pass. To avoid the police who would have stopped them, they did not go by the Mumbai-Ahmedabad national highway and took a detour by a small road in the remote rural areas of Dahanu tehsil which goes to Gujarat via the Union Territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli.

The two sadhus were killed by the mob on suspicion of being thieves. The matter is being investigated by the Palghar Police.