Priest, sewadar killed; tongue of one cut in brutal attack in Haryana mandir

Parveen Arora

Tribune News Service

Karnal, August 19

In a brutal attack, a priest and a ‘sewadar’ were allegedly killed, while three other injured in an attack by unidentified assailants in ‘Bhai-Behan Mandir’ (brother-sister temple), also known as Gobinddham Mandir, on Haryana-UP border near Manglora village in the district on the intervening night of Saturday and Sunday.

The attackers also cut out the tongue of one of the injured. The incident occurred some distance from Manglora police post.

The deceased were identified as Vinod Sharma, a priest and a resident of Kaithal district, and Sultan, a sewadar, a resident of UP, while the injured are Ajay, a resident of Sangoha village, Ravinder, a resident of Bhambharehri village and Harjinder Singh. The attackers allegedly cut the tongue of Ravinder, said Surinder Singh Bhoria, Superintendent of Police (SP).

As per the residents a ‘puja’ was to be performed by the priest on Sunday, so the other persons Ajay, Ravinder and Harjinder came to the temple last evening.

All the three injured were rushed to Kalpana Chawla Government Medical College and Hospital (KCGMCH), from where they were referred to PGI, Chandigarh. Their health conditions are said to be critical.

As per the police, the attackers also tied the hands and legs of all the deceased and injured. The reasons behind the attack are yet to be ascertained.

“Four teams have been constituted to crack the case. On the statement of one of the injured we have registered a case under section 302 against seven persons including one by name that is Sunil Kumar, a resident of Manglora,” said the SP.

“We have also rounded up some of the suspected,” he added.

Demanding arrest of the accused members of Brahmin community led by Surinder Barota blocked the road at hospital chowk. With the assurance of arrest at the earliest, they lifted the blockade. The community members demanded a compensation of Rs 50 lakh each for deceased and served an ultimatum of three-days to the police.

The incident came to light on Sunday morning at around 7am, when some of devotees came to temple and found the main door was locked. They looked inside the temple from the beneath of door and found bodies were lying in the pool of blood inside the temple.

They informed the residents and also the police. SP Bhoria, DSP Virinder Kumar along with forensic experts rushed to the spot and inspected the crime scene. Police also found liquor bottles and some other material from the crime scene.

The preliminary investigation suggests, sticks were used in the attack, the SPs said.