Patna: Clashes erupted between local people and police after a young priest was brutally murdered, his eyes gouged out and genitals chopped off in Bihar’s Gopalganj district.
Manoj Kumar, the victim, was priest of a Shiva temple in Gopalganj’s Danapur village.
He had been missing for the past six days, having disappeared when he left his house for the temple. The police started investigating after his brother Ashok Kumar Shah, a former divisional president of BJP, lodged a complaint.
There was no trace of Manoj until his body was found in the bushes on Saturday.
The villagers accused police of negligence. They protested by throwing stones at police personnel and vehicles, and also set a police vehicle on fire.
Police responded by firing in the air to disperse the mob.
Gopalganj Sadar Sub-Divisional Police Officer (SDPO) Pranjal and managed to pacify the agitated locals on reaching the spot.
Two police officials suffered minor injuries in the clashes.
The SDPO said the situation was under control and adequate police force had been deployed.
“The highway has been cleared. People had thrown stones at police officials. In this case, an FIR will be registered, and action will be taken,” he further said.
BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla accused the Nitish Kumar government of running a ‘jungleraj’ and slammed the INDIA Opposition alliance of “ISIS style of killing a priest.”
