Man Accused In UP Priest's Murder Killed In Police Encounter

The prime accused in the murder of a temple priest in Uttar Pradesh's Unnao district was killed in a police encounter on Monday, officials said.

A Special Operations Group (SOG) constable was also injured in the process, they said.

Unnao SP Jai Prakash Singh said that police and an SOG team were on patrol duty when they received a tip-off that the accused, Issrael, was present near the Tajpur village underpass.

Acting on the lead, a joint team of police and SOG personnel reached the spot, surrounded the accused and asked him to surrender.

However, the accused opened fire at the team, with one bullet hitting the bulletproof jacket of sub-inspector Newton Kumar Singh, and another hitting SOG constable Vikas Bhadauria on the arm, the SP said.

“Issrael was wounded in retaliatory firing. He was rushed to the community health centre in Bangarmau, where doctors declared him dead,” the officer said.

Police recovered a .315 bore country-made pistol, two spent cartridges and a knife from the encounter site, he said.

In another development, police arrested Shanu alias Munna Kalia – the fifth accused in the case carrying a reward of Rs 1 lakh – from near an overbridge on the Agra-Lucknow Expressway, the SP said.

“A case was registered against five named individuals and some unidentified persons in connection with the priest's murder. All the named accused have been arrested now,” police said.

Ram Milan Das, a long-time priest at the Bodheshwar temple in Bangarmau, was stabbed to death at an under-construction shrine on June 9, triggering tension in the area, police said.

Around six months ago, Das started building the temple about 200 metres from his house, where he spent most of his time.

The elder brother of Das, Virendra, told police that the family had no known dispute with anyone.

Unnao Lok Sabha MP Sakshi Maharaj hailed the encounter as an example of the “zero tolerance” policy towards criminals in Uttar Pradesh.

“The entire region was shocked and outraged by the brutal murder of Ram Milan Das. I met the victim's family after the incident, and assured them that under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, no criminal could escape the law,” he said in a statement.

The encounter showed that no criminal, however influential, will escape punishment for their crimes in Uttar Pradesh, he added. 

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