On Monday, Rajasthan Police arrested twelve persons for attempting to burn alive a Devnarayan temple priest and his wife in the Rajsamand district of Rajasthan. The incident is said to have happened on Sunday at around 8:30 pm when the duo was having dinner at their son’s shop. The accused arrived at the spot and hurled balloons filled with petrol at the shop.
According to the reports, victim priest Navratna Lal (75) and his wife, Jamna Devi (60) have suffered 80 percent burn injuries and have been admitted to the local hospital for treatment. The arrested accused have been identified as Jeetendra Singh, Ramesh Singh, Ishwar Singh, Giriraj Singh, Ram Singh, Devi Singh, Ganga Singh, Sesa Singh, Chhagan Singh, Hari Om Singh, Raju Singh Rawat, and Hazari Singh Rawat.
The accused Jitendra Singh is said to be the mastermind of the incident. He stays in Guntur city of Andhra Pradesh and had planned to murder the priest and his wife over a property issue. He sent Rs 20,000 to the rest of the accused and asked them to hurl petrol-filled balloons at the shop of the priest’s son to burn the family alive.
The police arrested Jitendra Singh from Hyderabad and are transporting him to Rajsamand. While Jitendra Singh hails from Andhra Pradesh, the rest of the accused are residents of Deogarh. The prime accused Jitendra Singh wanted to grab 22 bighas of land belonging to the Devnarayan temple in Deogarh for business purposes. He wanted to establish a plant there but the victim priest was constantly opposing the proposal put forth by the accused. It is suspected that the accused tried to kill the priest and his wife for this 22 bighas of land.
The negligence of the police has also come to the fore in this dispute as Navratna’s son, Mukesh Prajapat claimed that he had already complained at the police post but they didn’t heed the case. According to the reports, Deogarh Station Officer Shaitan Singh and Kamlighat outpost in-charge Prabhari Raju Singh have been suspended by Rajsamand Superintendent of Police on the orders of Inspector General of Police Prafulla Kumar.
The shop of the victim’s son is located in front of Essar Petrol Pump at Kamli Ghat, National Highway-8, in the Deogarh Police Station area of Rajsamand. The condition of the victim couple who is undergoing treatment at the Deogarh CHC is critical. Further investigations into the case are underway.
