A cleric has been allegedly beaten to death by a group of three masked men inside a mosque in Rajasthan's Ajmer.


The victim, 30-year-old Mohammad Mahir, was attacked on Saturday when he was sleeping with six children inside the mosque.


The incident unfolded at 2 am on Sunday when three masked men entered the mosque located in Kanchan Nagar under the Ramganj police station limits and threatened the children chasing them out and later attacking the cleric with sticks. Tahir succumbed to the injuries on the spot. 


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As per a report in PTI, the trio also threatened the children not to disclose the matter and took away their mobile phones so that they could not inform anyone or call for help. 


But when the accused fled, the children came out of the mosque and told people about the incident. 


A case has been registered in the matter and efforts are underway to catch the three accused.


Ramganj police station in-charge Ravindra Khinchi said that the reasons behind the murder have not been revealed so far. He added the police are going through the CCTV footage from the area, as per an NDTV report.


Tahir used to teach children in the mosque, according to the police. As per a local resident, Mohammad Mahir had arrived in Ajmer only two days ago and used to teach children.


SHO Ramganj Ravindra Singh said Tahir's body was handed over to his family members after they arrived in Ajmer from Uttar Pradesh.


Police have begun the investigation into the case. However, no arrests have been made and efforts are on to identify and arrest the accused.


Mahir's brother said that he has given the names of the suspects to the police.


“My brother had told us many times that some people in the area were not happy with him handling the madrasa. Those people wanted to take control of the institution. He never liked living in Ajmer but after the death of his mentor Mualana Zakir Hussain last year in October, he was given its charge,” the brother told the Indian Express.