Two sadhus were found murdered at a temple in Uttar Pradesh’s Bulandshahr district on Monday night. The murderer is allegedly the person whom the sadhus accused of stealing recently and was scolded and abused by them.

The sadhus had been identified as 55-year-old Jagandas and 35-year-old Sevadas. The murder came to light when people reached the temple on Tuesday morning and saw the blood-soaked bodies, according to police.

Chief Minister of the state Yogi Adityanath has given instructions for a thorough investigation and ordered strict action against the accused.

According to police, one person has been detained. He was “high on drugs” when he killed the two priests, and is still under the influence of drugs and will be interrogated after his inebriation weans off.

Senior Superintendent of  Police(SSP) Bulandshahr Santosh Singh was quoted by news agency ANI as saying, “The two babas lived here at the temple. One person named Murai alias Raju, who belongs to a scheduled caste, took away a ”chimta” (tongs) for which he was scolded and abused by the priests. After the murder, villagers were looking for him and spotted him drugged with bhang, with bare minimum clothes.”

SSP Bulandshahr further added that the accused was angry about it and in fit of rage probably after consuming bhang (cannabis), he went to the temple and killed both the sadhus with a sword.

Further investigations are underway and additional forces have been deployed in the area.

The killing comes days after the Palgarh incident in Maharashtra where a mob attacked and killed two sadhus and their driver.

On April 16, at night three men – two sadhus and their driver – were travelling from Mumbai in a car towards Surat in Gujarat to attend a funeral. Their vehicle was stopped near Gadchinchale village in Palgarh district where the three were dragged out of the car and beaten to death with sticks by a mob on suspicion that they were child-lifters.

There were several rumours floating around the locality. According to police, there were rumours around that the thieves taking advantage of the current lockdown imposed to arrest the spread of Coronavirus. While the District Collector Kailash Shinde said that there were also rumours of child abductors operating in the neighbourhood. The police Police had rushed to stop it but failed.

Maharashtra government  clarified that, “Those trying to inflame passions, must desist from doing so. There is no Hindu-Muslim angle or communalism in this attack. Two policemen were suspended immediately”.

While today, Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has lashed out at the Uttar Pradesh government for deteriorating law and order situation, rise of crime and murder of two saints in Bulandshahr.

She said, “Today in Bulandshahr, two sadhus were murdered while they were sleeping. The truth must come out after investigation in this heinous crime and at this stage no body should politicize this issue.”

अप्रैल के पहले 15 दिनों में ही उप्र में सौ लोगों की हत्या हो गई। तीन दिन पहले एटा में पचौरी परिवार के 5 लोगों के शव संदिग्ध परिस्थितियों में पाए गए। कोई नहीं जानता उनके साथ क्या हुआ।

आज बुलंदशहर में एक मंदिर में सो रहे दो साधुओं को बेरहमी से मौत के घाट उतार दिया गया।..

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— Priyanka Gandhi Vadra (@priyankagandhi) April 28, 2020

..ऐसे जघन्य अपराधों की गहराई से जाँच होनी चाहिए और इस समय किसी को भी इस मामले का राजनीतिकरण नहीं करना चाहिए।

निष्पक्ष जाँच करके पूरा सच प्रदेश के समक्ष लाना चाहिए। यह सरकार की ज़िम्मेदारी है।

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— Priyanka Gandhi Vadra (@priyankagandhi) April 28, 2020

Shiv Sena also condemned the killing, demanding a thorough probe and also said that the issue is not communalized the way it was done in the case of lynchings of two sadhus at  Palghar.

Party’s  Rajya Sabha MP Priyanka Chaturvedi took to Twitter and wrote, “Terrible news, I expect the UP government will take stern action. Hope some sections of the media and keyboard warriors, don’t attempt to communalize this issue and blame the Chief Minister at a time when the state and the country are battling Covid.”