Temple priest beaten to death in Begusarai, three idols stolen | Times of India

BEGUSARAI: The head priest of a temple was killed and three century-old idols made of ‘ashtadhatu’ were stolen by unidentified miscreants on Sunday in Begusarai district, police said on Monday.

The priest, Mahendra Das alias Muso (70), was beaten to death with a baton by the miscreants. Later, the culprits fled with three idols of Ram, Janki and Lakshman, from the temple apparently made of ashtadhatu (amalgamation of eight metals), at Bhagofua village in Naya Gaon police station area of the district, SHO Mukesh Kumar said. “The exact value of the idols could not be ascertained but villagers claim that the idols were made of ‘ashtadhatu’ worth lakhs of rupees and weighed around 10kg each,” said the SHO.

Police have started investigation in the case, he said, adding the priest’s body has been sent to the sadar hospital for post-mortem.

The Begusarai incident comes two days after an attack on a head priest in Vaishali district. Priest Mauni Baba (65) was shot dead by unidentified people inside the ‘Ram Janaki Mutt’ temple of the district.PTI