Lynching of a priest in Meerut district led to tension in the area as the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) activists gave it a communal colour and demanded the arrest of all the culprits.
They also put the body on road and staged a demonstration to protest the killing of priests. One person was arrested for the crime and a hunt was on for the other assailants.
Reports said that priest of a temple in Bhawanpur area, Kanti Prasad, also ran a shop on the premises and sold religious memorabilia. On Tuesday evening, a youth from another community allegedly taunted Kanti Prasad over his attire to which he objected. The youth summoned his supporters who beat him up. Kanti Prasad went to the police station to file a complaint. He was sent for medical examination but his condition deteriorated and he died during treatment in the night.
Prasad’s son Adesh told reporters that his father had been beaten up by five persons but the police arrested only one person.
The VHP activists, meanwhile, staged a demonstration after putting the body on the road, leading to tension in the area on Wednesday morning. Senior civil and police officials pacified the protesters and assured them that firm action would be taken against the assailants.
SP (Rural) Avinash said that the main accused had been arrested and a search was on to nab the others. He said that talks were on to give compensation to the bereaved family as demanded by the VHP activists.
Meanwhile in Bijnor, a couple was brutally hacked to death. Their bodies were found lying in pools of blood on Wednesday morning. Reports said Shiv Kumar (45), a resident of Bishenpura hamlet of Syohara, was living with his wife, daughter and son. On Wednesday morning, when the milkman arrived, he was shocked to see the couple lying dead.
The son and daughter of the deceased were at a relative’s house in another town at that time.
The milkman informed the police after which SP Bijnor Sanjeev Tyagi reached the spot.
Tyagi claimed that they contacted the son who expresses suspicion on one Manu Dutt Sharma, with whom his father had a dispute. Sharma had allegedly threatened Kumar on several occasions.
The local villagers later revealed that Manu Dutt wanted to marry Shiv Kumar’s daughter to which he was not ready following which they had dispute.
On Tuesday night the villagers saw Manu came in an inebriated state and thrashing the couple so they called the local police. The villagers said that the local police also arrived but left without taking any action. They alleged that the negligence of cops took the life of a couple.
A case was registered and efforts were on to nab the accused.