UP: Priest strangled to death by unknown persons inside temple in Budaun

Budaun (UP), Nov 17 (PTI) A priest of the Sarveshwar Sai Temple in Civil Lines area here, was strangled to death by unknown assailants, police said on Monday.

The priest's body was found on the bed in his room within the temple premises, located barely 100 metres from the Kheda Nawada police outpost. The attackers allegedly broke the CCTV cameras installed at the temple and took away the DVR (digital video recorder).

The deceased, identified as Manoj Shankhdhar (40), was a resident of Kalia Kajampur village under Wazirganj police station limits in Budaun district, and had been serving as a priest at the Sarveshwar Sai Temple since 2016.

A devotee who visited the temple on Monday morning reported the incident, police said.

Surendra Vaish, manager of the Sarveshwar Sai Temple, alleged that the assailants also attempted to tear the temple's donation deed, and two silver crowns are missing.

Additional Superintendent of Police (Rural), Hirdesh Kumar Katheria said around 4.00 am, some unidentified miscreants strangled priest Manoj Sangdhar to death while he was sleeping in his room within the temple premises.

He added that two silver crowns are allegedly missing from the temple. The killers took the priest's mobile phone and also the CCTV camera's DVR with them.

The priest's body has been sent for postmortem examination. A case has been lodged under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, the officer said, and hunt is on to trace the assailants. PTI COR NAV ARB ARB