After failed attempt to stab him, unknown miscreants set renowned Udaipur priest on fire

Udaipur: Police in Udaipur district of Rajasthan is on the lookout for two assailants who attacked a priest in the early hours of Friday and set him ablaze. The victim in question is mahant Ramjivan Das of the Mahu Mahadev temple which falls under the limits of the Gadariyawas Gram Panchayat in Dhariyawad block of Pratapgarh district.

Going by reports, the incident took place a day after two men stabbed the mahant to death after wandering into the temple on the pretext of looking for a mobile phone charger. Das had registered a complaint in this regard with the police on Thursday. Superintendent of police (SP), Pratapgarh, Anil Beniwal told media outlets that the priest was rushed to a local hospital before being referred to the Udaipur Civil Hospital where his condition is now stable.

Establishing a timeline of events leading up to the crime, Beniwal said that the mahant was going to attend nature's call at around 3.30 am on Friday when two men barged into the temple and subdued him. The assailants then poured kerosene all over Das and set him on fire. The duo then fled the scene of the crime and the mahant jumped into the temple pond to save himself. Locals discovered the mahant and alerted city police officials.

Upon receiving information about the attack, Dhariyawad station house officer (SHO) Dungar Singh rushed to the crime spot and sealed it to gather more evidence. A special investigation team (SIT) along with officials from the Forensic Science Lab (FSL) and a dog squad were sent to the crime scene to gather any evidence which may lead investigators to the culprits.

Addressing media personnel, a police official said that the mahant sustained severe burn injuries on the upper portion of his body and on his hands. While the priest is now stable, the back-to-back attacks on him have sparked outrage among locals who are demanding that the culprits be identified and brought to justice at the earliest. Ramjivan Das commands a popular local presence and devotees from across the country visit him at the Mahu Mahadev temple which is situated near the confluence of three major rivers and is more popularly known as triveni sangam.