NEW DELHI: A 35-year-old sewadar at Kalkaji Temple in southeast Delhi was beaten to death following a scuffle over prasad, police said on Saturday.
A purported CCTV footage of the incident shows a group of people assaulting the victim with sticks. Yogendra Singh, a resident of Hardoi district in Uttar Pradesh, was serving the Kalkaji Temple for the last 14-15 years. After the incident, police filed an FIR, and five of the accused have been nabbed.
According to a senior police officer, a PCR call was received regarding a fight at the Kalkaji temple on Friday night. Inquiry revealed that the accused had gone to the temple for darshan.
After darshan, they demanded “chunni prasad” from the victim, which he declined, leading to an argument. The accused assaulted the victim with sticks and fist blows. The victim was taken to AIIMS Trauma Centre, where he succumbed during treatment, DCP (southeast) Hemant Tiwari said.
A case under section 103(1)/ 3(5) of BNS has been registered. Five people have been apprehended in this case. They have been identified as Mohan (19), Kuldeep Bidhuri (20), Atul Pandey (30), Nitin Pandey (26) and Anil Kumar (55). Pandey was apprehended by the public and handed over to police.
Another sewadar Raju stated that after aarti, they were relaxing in their dharamshalas, when 10-15 men dragged the victim out and beat him to death. Pt Sidharth Bhardwaj, secretary Shri Kalkaji Mandir Prabandhak Sudhar Committee (Reg), and Pt Akarshan Bhardwaj stated that after the unfortunate incident, the temple management has initiated a comprehensive set of measures aimed at enhancing security for all individuals within the temple premises.