Killing of two priests in UP quite distressing: Anil Deshmukh

Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh on Tuesday termed as "quite distressing" the killing of two priests in Uttar Pradesh's Bulandshahr. Deshmukh, who belongs to the NCP, also said that he "trusted" Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to take"swift" action as the Maha Vikas Aghadi government had taken in connection with the Palghar lynching incident earlier this month.

Without naming any party, Deshmukh hoped that those who had made "inflammatory" statements after the Palghar incident will not make such provocative comments after the Bulandshahr killings.

"The killing of 2 sadhus in UP's Bulandshahr is quite distressing. We trust @myogiadityanath will take action as swiftly as we took in #Palghar. We hope those who made inflammatory communal statements after Palghar will curb such tendencies!" Deshmukh tweeted with a hashtag "ZeroToleranceForCommunalism".

Two priests were found murdered at a temple in Bulandshahr district on Tuesday morning, allegedly killed by a local youth. Jagdish (55) and Sher Singh (45) were apparently hit with a lathi at Paguana village's Shiva temple in Anupshahr police station area, police said.

The alleged killer was arrested. On his part, CM Adityanath directed strict action in the case as Opposition leaders targeted the BJP government over the crime.

In Delhi, the Congress said that the killing of two priests in Bulandshahr should not be politicised like the Palghar incident. In Palghar, two sadhus and their driver were lynched by a mob near a village on the night of April 16 when they were headed towards Surat in Gujarat in a car to attend a funeral.

The incident had triggered a war of words between the opposition BJP and the Shiv Sena-led state government comprising the NCP and the Congress.