A priest was brutally murdered in Panditpurwa village under Raniapur police station of Bahraich district late Saturday night.

The killing took place when the priest was sleeping at the Dhelha Samay Mata temple.

The police are investigating the case following a complaint from the priest’s wife.

Reports said that Tejram (45) of Panditpurwa village in Gobarha panchayat had been serving as the temple priest at Dhelha for about 20 to 25 years. His wife, Ramavati, reported that on Saturday night, Ram Chandra Chauhan from Harrajpur attacked Tejram with an iron rod while he was sleeping. 

The critically injured priest was initially referred from the community health centre to the district hospital in serious condition but was later referred to Lucknow. Unfortunately, he died on the way to Lucknow around midnight.

Station House Officer Rajman Yadav confirmed that the accused had been arrested.

The body was sent for post-mortem and the investigation is ongoing.

Ramavati informed the police that there had been a dispute between her husband and the accused three to four days back.

Meanwhile, police in Sultanpur district arrested two of the accused involved in the sensational killing of Jal Nigam executive engineer Santosh Kumar.

The accused, identified as assistant engineer Amit Kumar and his associate Pradeep, were arrested in a late night encounter on Saturday.

The local police reported that both suspects are from Madhubani, Bihar. Santosh Kumar, a native of Ratssad Kala in Ballia, was found dead in a rented house in Binowapuri, Kotwali Nagar, on Saturday morning. The body was discovered with hands and feet bound and tape over the mouth.

Following a complaint by Santosh’s brother, Sanjay Kumar, a case was registered naming assistant engineer Amit Kumar and an unidentified associate.

The additional police superintendent confirmed that Santosh Kumar’s murder was committed by his own department’s contractual assistant engineer Amit and another individual named Pradeep.

A case has been registered under various sections, including sections 103/351(2)/351(3) of the BNS and 3(2)(V) of the SC/ST Act.

Police teams were deployed to arrest the suspects. Late at night, it was reported that Amit and Pradeep were attempting to flee to Bihar via Banaras road. The police set up a road block and when the suspects approached, they opened fire. In response, the police fired back in self-defense.

Both Amit Kumar from Madhubani and Pradeep from Sasaram were injured and were immediately taken to the district hospital.