Temple Priest, Wife Injured In Petrol Bomb Attack In Rajasthan's Rajsamand

The priest had earlier lodged complaints that he was facing threats but the local police did not act on it.

Petrol bomb hurled at priest and his wife in Rajasthan

Source : Getty Images

An elderly priest and his wife suffered burn injuries when a mob allegedly hurled a petrol bomb at him in Rajasthan's Rajsamand district, officials said on Monday.

As it came to light after the attack that the priest had lodged complaints in the past as he was facing threats but the local police did not act on it, the inspector general of Udaipur suspended an SHO and a chowky in-charge for negligence, they said.

Navratan Prajapat (72) was having dinner in a small accommodation he shares with his wife in the Heera ki Basti area on Sunday night when a mob of around 10-12 people attacked him, they said.

His wife, Jamda Devi, sustained injuries while trying to put out the flames, and both of them are undergoing treatment at a hospital, the officials said.

Superintendent of Police, Rajsamand, Sudheer Chaudhary said some people had raised objections to Prajapat being the priest of a temple in the area and they wanted somebody else there.

READ | FIFA World Cup: England Fans Searching For Beer 'Taken To Sheikh's Palace To Meet Lions'. WATCH

Also, there is a dispute over the land of the temple, and a case is in progress at the civil court of Deogarh in Rajsamand. The next hearing in the case is on December 3.

Navratan had approached the police two-three times before and also gave complaints to the SP and the collector against the accused, the officials said.

The SP said he had instructed the SHO of Devgarh police station to take action but he forwarded the matter to a local chowky and no concrete action was taken against the accused.

He said main accused Narendra Singh paid some local people Rs 20,000 to the carry out the attack. Narendra Singh, Bhanwar Singh, Hardev Bhat and Jeetu were interrogated in connection with the matter and they have confessed, the official said.

Jeetu is the main conspirator who was caught from Andhra Pradesh. He had hatched the conspiracy and fled to Andhra Pradesh, the SP said.

In addition, 11 more have been detained and are being interrogated, he said.

The SP said Deogarh SHO Shaitan Singh and Kamlighat chowky in-charge Raju Singh have been suspended.

Targeting the Congress government over the attack, BJP state president Satish Poonia said crime rate has increased but the government is not bothered.

"The chief minister has turned a blind eye towards such incidents which shows that criminals have political patronage from the government," he told reporters here.

Poonia said those involved in the attack should be arrested at the earliest.

Rajsamand MP Diya Kumari condemned the incident and demanded action against the culprits.

 

(This story is published as part of the auto-generated syndicate wire feed. No editing has been done in the headline or the body by ABP Live.)