The brutal attack was captured on CCTV, showing the men thrashing the sevadar with sticks. One of the accused, who is a resident of Dakshinpuri and native of Uttar Pradesh’s Gorakhpur, was caught on the spot by locals and handed over to the police, officials said
The argument reportedly began after the accused, who were visiting the temple, demanded ‘chunni prasad’. Representational pic
A 35-year-old ‘sevadar’ of the Kalkaji temple in Delhi was beaten to death in broad daylight, allegedly by a group of men following an argument over ‘prasad’, police said on Saturday. Five people have been arrested in connection with the case, reported PTI.
The brutal attack was captured on CCTV, showing the men thrashing the sevadar, Yogendra Singh, with sticks.
One of the accused, 30-year-old Atul Pandey, who is a resident of Dakshinpuri and native of Uttar Pradesh’s Gorakhpur, was caught on the spot by locals and handed over to the police, officials said.
Four more accused – Mohan alias Bhura (19) and his cousin Kuldeep Bidhuri (20), both residents of Tughlaqabad, Nitin Pandey (26) and his father Anil Kumar (55) – were arrested on Saturday, reported PTI.
“Anil has also been arrested on the charges of harbouring the accused and aiding them to avoid detection by police,” an official said.
Police said the control room received a call around 9.30 pm on Friday reporting a ruckus at the Kalkaji temple, reported PTI. The argument reportedly began after the accused, who were visiting the temple, demanded ‘chunni prasad’ – a combination of a sacred headscarf and a religious food offering – from Singh, who is a native of Hardoi in Uttar Pradesh. He had been working at the temple for nearly 15 years.
Things quickly turned violent, with the accused punching and hitting Singh with sticks, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Southeast) Hemant Tiwari said. Singh was rushed to the AIIMS Trauma Centre, where he died during treatment.
A case has been registered at the Kalkaji police station under sections 103(1) (murder) and 3(5) (joint liability) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, DCP Tiwari said. Efforts are underway to identify and apprehend any remaining accused.
Siddharth Bhardwaj, general secretary of the Kalkaji temple, called the incident “truly heartbreaking.”
“The incident took place around 9 pm. It is truly heartbreaking. The temple committee and the pujari community demand justice and want the accused arrested at the earliest,” Bhardwaj told PTI.
He added that preliminary information suggests the accused were creating a nuisance and not following temple rules. They also asked for ‘prasad’, which Singh could not provide as it had run out.
“Yogendra must have asked them to adhere to the rules, which angered them and led to this heinous act. The sevadars here have been serving the temple for generations, tying the sacred thread for devotees,” Bhardwaj said.
“His post-mortem is underway. His family is devastated and so are we. The brutal nature of this attack has shocked everyone. Strict action must be taken so that no such crime is repeated against temple sevadars,” he added.
Recalling the attack, another temple sevadar, Raju, said, “He (Singh) was sitting in his dharamshala when 10 to 15 men dragged him outside and beat him to death. He had been working here for the last 10 to 15 years. All the prasad offered in the temple is distributed among devotees. When these men asked him for prasad, he had to refuse as there was none left.”
Raju said the attackers took advantage of the fact that other sevadars had gone inside to perform puja. “Finding him alone, they pounced on him and beat him to death,” he said.
AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal criticised the BJP over the incident, terming it a failure of law and order.
In a post on X, the former chief minister said, “Did these miscreants not even flinch before brutally killing a sevadar inside the Kalkaji temple? If this is not a failure of law and order, then what is? The four engines of the BJP have brought Delhi to such a state that now even temples are witnessing such incidents. Is anyone really safe in Delhi anymore?”
(With PTI inputs)
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