A 35-year-old sewadaar was allegedly beaten to death following an altercation with some people on Saturday, police said, adding that one of them has been nabbed.
The deceased, Yogendra Singh, from Uttar Pradesh’s Hardoi, had been serving at the Kalkaji Temple for the past 14-15 years.
After the scuffle, Singh was immediately rushed to the AIIMS Trauma Centre, where he succumbed to the wounds he had sustained, police said.
“At around 9:30 on Friday, a call was made to the police control room, alerting the cops about the row at the temple,” Hemant Tiwari, Deputy Commissioner of Police, said.
Adding to his statement further, he said, “The argument ensued after the accused, who were visiting the temple, demanded ‘chunniprasad’ from Singh.”
The altercation turned violent as the group of men dealt fist blows to Singh and beat him up with sticks, in which he was killed, DCP Hemant said.
Raju, another sewadaar at the Kalkaji Temple, said, “What I know is, around 9 pm, they took him from the Dharamshala. There were 10-15 people. They had iron rods and sticks, and they beat him to death.”
“The group was asking for prasad, and Yogesh asked them to wait for a few minutes, after which they started to threaten him. Whenever these people came to the temple, they came with an aggressive attitude and expected us to give them whatever they wanted,” Raju said.
Based on the information, a case under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) Sections 103(1) (murder) and 3(5) (joint liability) was registered at the Kalkaji police station.
The officer added, “One of the accused, identified as Atul Pandey (30), a resident of Dakshinpuri, was caught on the spot by the locals and handed over to the police.”
Officer Tiwari continued in his statement by saying, “Investigation into this case is ongoing by our team to identify and nab the remaining accused involved in this matter.”