JAIPUR: A priest in Rajasthan’s Karauli district died after being set afire by a group of six men over a land dispute, giving the BJP, which is under fire over the Hathras gang-rape and murder in Uttar Pradesh, a handle to attack the Congress.
Before he died, priest Babu Lal Vaishnav told the police the culprits doused him in petrol and set him ablaze. The incident took place at Bunka village in Sapotra on Wednesday. The priest was rushed to Jaipur’s SMS Hospital where he died on Thursday night. A case of murder has been registered and the main accused, Kailash Meena, has been arrested.
The police said the priest had about 15 bighas belonging to the Radha Krishna Temple Trust in the village that was given to him for livelihood. When Vaishnav wanted to build a house on a plot close to his land, the accused claimed they owned the land and the village elders ruled in the priest’s favour.
Rajasthan priest names six before dying
He then placed the bales of his newly harvested bajra crop on the land as a sign of ownership. But the accused went ahead and started building a hut on the plot. An altercation ensued and the accused set him ablaze, the priest said in his statement to the police before his death. He named six people — Kailash, Shankar and Namo Meena and three others.
As the ghastly killing sparked outrage, the BJP targeted the Congress and the Ashok Gehlot government law and order in Rajasthan ‘going for a toss’. ‘‘The crime graph in Rajasthan continues to grow and the Congress government should wake up from its slumber and ensure that the culprits are punished,” former CM and BJP minister Vasundhra Raje tweeted.
Calling the incident unfortunate and condemnable, Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot tweeted, “We do not have a place for such acts here...The accused won’t be spared.”