3 Held for Murder of Priest, 'Sevadar' at Baba Bharamal Temple in Uttarakhand

KHATIMA, UTTARAKHAND: Police, on Sunday, arrested three people in connection with the double murder of a priest and a sevadar at the Baba Bharmal Temple near Khatima in Uttarakhand. A former ‘sevadar, an Aghori baba and a history-sheeter have been arrested in connection with the double murder. According to Senior Superintendent of Police Manjunath TC, the temple’s priest Baba Harigiri Maharaj and the ‘sevadar’ Rupa were beaten to death using sticks and some cash and other items were also taken. As for the accused, police said Kalicharan was a former ‘sevadar’ at the temple, Rampal was an ‘aghori’ baba and Pawan is a history-sheeter from the Pilibhit district of Uttar Pradesh. Following their interrogation, it was revealed that Rampal and Kalicharan had eaten at the temple's ‘bhandara’ and had subsequently stayed at the temple. 

It was during their stay that that pair reportedly consumed alcohol, leading the temple's priest to reprimand them. After being scolded, the pair left but would later conspire to murder the priest. It was at this point that Pawan was pulled into the scheme. During the actual attack, the priest was attacked first by the trio but the ‘sevadar’ Rupa intervened to protect the priest, getting killed as a result with another ‘sevadar’ Nanhe also being injured. 

Police have also recovered Rs 4,700 in cash, a mobile and an internet dongle stolen from the priest. The SSP said the investigation in the case was a challenge since there were no CCTV cameras at the spot and the second ‘sevadar’ injured in the incident could not give any substantial information.

Police interrogated more than 1,200 people and searched over 1,000 cameras during the investigation, the officer said, announcing a reward of Rs 2,500 for the police team.

With inputs from PTI.