Last week, reports of a priest being severely injured in the Gonda district of Uttar Pradesh had flocked the internet. On Saturday, the Uttar Pradesh police said that the temple priest had orchestrated an attack on himself to frame his political rival.
Since the report came out, the state government of Uttar Pradesh had come under severe criticism. Opposition leaders who had attacked the government in the recent Hathras case did not leave this opportunity to criticize the government’s handling of law and order in the state. Many saints from Ayodhya had camped in Gonda seeking justice and action against the culprits.
However, the police claimed that the Mahant Siraramdas, the village head, and the injured priest, identified as Atul Tripathi, had jointly hatched a conspiracy to carry out the attack. The injured priest is currently undergoing treatment in the King George’s Medical College Hospital in Lucknow. The District Magistrate Nitin Bansal and the Superintendent of Police Shailesh Kumar Pandey held a press conference and said that the priest was shot on the night of October 10 inside the Shri Ram Janki Temple.
Several Arrested In Attempt To Murder Case
The Mahant Sitaramdas and four others were arrested in an attempt to murder case. The village head has also been arrested in connection with the attack. Five separate teams were constituted to probe the case on the basis of electronic evidence, witnesses’ statements, and other inputs from the village. In the probe, three country-made revolvers, one empty cartridge, seven live cartridges, and a mobile phone were recovered.
The police said that the attack was orchestrated to malign the former village head Amar Singh who has a rivalry with Mahant Sitaramdas. Further, several attempts were made to frame Amar Singh in serious matters before. The priest was also shot in a manner where he suffers injury but having no threat to his life.
Source: Free Press Journal
