Etah police in Uttar Pradesh have posted a video byte on its official Twitter handle, informing that on the intervening night of October 8th (Friday) and October 9th (Saturday), a 52-year-old priest was brutally hacked to death in cold blood inside the temple premises, where he reportedly lived. The police confirmed that they have arrested the accused named Razzak and recovered the axe he used to hack the priest to death.
दि- 08/09.10.2021 की रात्रि में थाना कोतवाली देहात क्षेत्रांतर्गत एक पुजारी की उन्हीं के साथी द्वारा हत्या किए जाने की सूचना पर स्थानीय पुलिस द्वारा मौके पर पहुंच आरोपी रज्जाक को मय आलाकत्ल हिरासत में लिया गया है, प्रकरण में आवश्यक वैधानिक कार्यवाही की जा रही है।@Uppolice pic.twitter.com/XFH98g45Gt
— Etah Police (@Etahpolice) October 9, 2021
As per a report by Hindi Daily Amar Ujala, the residents of the village discovered the priest’s body lying in cold blood inside the temple premises on Saturday (October 9) morning when they immediately alerted the police.
The temple where the incident happened is located in the Nagla Jagroop village, which falls under the limits of Thana Kotwali Dehat, in Etah Tehsil of Etah district in Uttar Pradesh.
The police said that preliminary investigations have revealed that the accused Razzak lived with priest Kirpal, popularly referred to as ‘Baba Sadhu’ by the villagers and shared an extremely cordial relationship with him. They use to spend a lot of time together and also ate their meals with each other.
On the night of the incident also, Razzak and the priest were having dinner together, when the two got into an argument. The altercation enraged the youth, who then took an axe and brutally killed the priest.
The Kotwali Dehat police confirmed to OpIndia that Razzak was an addict and use to always be under the influence of Ganja (marijuana). According to the police officer, who did not disclose his identity, Razzak was likely under the influence of the drug on that day too and killed the priest in a fit of rage.
The police said that the matter is being investigated thoroughly and assured that appropriate action will be taken against the accused.
