In a sensational incident, priest of a temple in Ballia was found hacked to death under mysterious circumstances on Tuesday morning. Senior officers rushed to the spot to supervise investigation and the body was sent for autopsy.
Reports said that Vishnu Brahmchari, who hailed from Rajasthan, was the priest at Balaji Temple in Bisalpur area of Philibhit for the last few years. On Monday morning, he was found murdered under mysterious circumstances. According to Additional SP (Philibhit) Rohit Mishra, who reached the spot along with local police and investigated the case, the priest went to the temple for morning prayers on Tuesday. He said circumstantial evidence hinted that assailants were also present in the temple at that time and they attacked him with sharp-edged weapons.
A milkman spotted the body lying in a pool of blood. He raised an alarm after which local police were informed. Mishra said another priest was also engaged for the same temple and he, along with his family members, was found missing. He said they were making efforts to trace the other priest so that it could be confirmed whether his disappearance had anything to do with the killing, or some other criminals were involved.
He said that on the complaint of the manager of the trust, which runs the temple, they registered a case against unidentified persons and were making efforts to get some clue which could help them zero in on the accused. A case was registered in this regard while further investigations were on.