Uttar Pradesh: Two Arrested By Police For Murdering A Sadhu Inside Pilibhit Temple

On 31 August, the body of a temple priest was found with throat slit and dumped in the fields in Uttar Pradesh’s Pilibhit district. Rameshwar Dayal, 60, had been living in a Shiva temple located in village Bhurkoni for 20 years.

The sensational murder had come about just two weeks after another brutal triple-murder case in the state’s Auraiya district where three temple sadhus were found with throats and tongues slit. The police arrested five accused, namely Salman, Nadeem, Shahzad, Najeem, and Jabbar. As per the police, the sadhus were murdered for opposing cow slaughter in the area, and the brutal killings were meant to silence all gau rakshaks.

In the Pilibhit case, the police have arrested two accused, namely Abdul Sayeed and Babu, as per various reports. Abdul is a history-sheeter, as per the police.

A Navbharat Times report quoted police officers as saying that the two entered the temple premises with an intention to loot. But when the sadhu spotted them, they killed him and dumped his body in the fields. A police case was registered by the village pradhan.

The police have seized the knife used for the murder. The sadhu’s mobile phone was also recovered from them.