In what can be seen as adding new dimension to the crime incidents happening in the national capital, a 35-year-old sewadaar working in a temple in southeast Delhi's Kalkaji area was allegedly beaten to death following a dispute with some people over denial of prasad. One of the accused was captured by locals and handed over to the police.
The victim, Yogendra Singh, a resident of Hardoi in Uttar Pradesh, had been serving at the temple for the past 15 years. Around 9.30 pm, a group of men visited the temple for darshan and demanded prasad from him. When Singh refused, an argument escalated into a violent assault.
CCTV footage of the incident shows the sewadar lying unconscious on the ground while attackers repeatedly thrashing him with sticks and fist blows.The cops got a call in the police control room about the row at the temple at around 9.30 PM on Friday.The Delhi police sprang into action and nabbed one of the accused in the case.
"One of the accused, identified as Atul Pandey, a resident of Dakshinpuri, was caught on the spot by the locals and handed over to the police," the DCP said. The accused is said to be 30 years old."What I know is, around 9 PM, they took him from the Dharamshala. There were 10-15 people. They had iron rods and sticks, and they beat him to death. They were asking for prasad, and he asked them to wait for a few minutes, after which, they started threatening him... Whenever these people came to the temple, they came with an aggressive attitude and expected us to give them whatever they wanted," a sevadaar told a news agency.
The argument allegedly ensued after the accused group, who were visiting the temple, demanded 'chunniprasad' from the sewadaar, identified as Yogendra Singh, a native of Hardoi in Uttar Pradesh, who had been working as a sewadar at the temple for the last decade and a half. Chunniprasad is a combination of a sacred headscarf and a religious offering of food.The argument soon turned violent as the group hit the victim with fists and then beat him up with sticks.
According to Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Southeast Delhi Hemant Tiwari, the victim was rushed to the AIIMS Trauma Centre, where he succumbed to injuries during treatment.The Delhi police have filed a case under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) Sections 103(1) (murder) and 3(5) (joint liability), which has been registered at Kalkaji police station, after the murder of the temple sevadar. Police said efforts are underway to identify and nab the remaining accused.
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