Protests erupt as Bihar temple caretaker found dead; SIT formed

Sah was the caretaker of the Danapur village temple under the Manjhagarh police station limits. CCTV footage showed him walking out of his room at the temple at 12.40 am on December 11. He had not been seen since then, and his family reported the matter to the police the same day.

Gopalganj in-charge SP Hriday Kant said Sah was not a priest, as some reports had mentioned, but was a caretaker who lived in a room on the temple premises. “After his body was recovered on December 16, local residents staged protests and also blocked traffic along National Highway 27. In their protest against police on Saturday, two policemen were injured,” Kant said.

“The body has been sent for postmortem, which will reveal the exact nature of the injuries that caused his death,” he said.

The SP said an SIT under Sadar sub-divisional police has been set up to probe the matter.

“It could be a matter of land dispute. We have detained some people for questioning. Other people staying on the temple premises are also being questioned,” Kant said.

The victim’s brother, Ashok Kumar Sah, is a local BJP leader.

BJP’s Hari Sahni, the Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Council, visited the spot and said: “We condemn the incident. Police action has been inadequate.”

Union Minister of State for Home, Nityanand Rai, a former Bihar BJP president, criticised the Nitish Kumar government in the state.

“Criminals are roaming around without fear because of the patronage they receive from Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav… The people of Bihar will punish the government in the next elections,” he said.