Delhi Kalkaji temple: Sevadar beaten to death over prasad dispute, five held

CCTV footage shows the fatal assault unfold as the sevadar refused devotees’ unusual request, sparking outrage over temple safety and Delhi’s law-and-order lapses.

New Delhi: A 35-year-old 'sevadar' of the Kalkaji temple here was beaten to death in full public view allegedly by a group of men following an argument over 'prasad', police said on Saturday. Five people have been arrested in the case.

The brutal incident was captured on CCTV. In the video, the men are seen thrashing the 'sevadar', Yogendra Singh, with sticks.

One of the accused, Atul Pandey (30), a resident of Dakshinpuri and native of Uttar Pradesh's Gorakhpur, was caught on the spot by the locals and handed over to police, officials said.

Four more accused -- Mohan alias Bhura (19) and his cousin Kuldeep Bidhuri (20), both residents of Tughlaqabad, Nitin Pandey (26) and his father Anil Kumar (55) -- were arrested on Saturday, they said.

"Anil has also been arrested on the charges of harbouring the accused and aiding them to avoid detection by police," an official said.

According to the officials, the police control room received a call around 9.30 pm on Friday about a ruckus at the Kalkaji temple.

The argument broke out after the accused, who were visiting the temple, demanded 'chunni prasad' -- a combination of a sacred headscarf and a religious offering of food -- from Singh, a native of Hardoi in Uttar Pradesh who had been working at the temple for almost 15 years, police said.

Things soon took a violent turn, with the accused punching and hitting Singh with sticks, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Southeast) Hemant Tiwari said.

Singh was rushed to the AIIMS Trauma Centre, where he died during treatment, the officer said.

A case has been registered at the Kalkaji police station under sections 103(1) (murder) and 3(5) (joint liability) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, DCP Tiwari said.

Efforts are underway to identify and nab the remaining accused in the case, he said.

Siddharth Bhardwaj, general secretary of the Kalkaji temple, said the incident is truly heartbreaking.

"The incident took place around 9 pm. It is truly heartbreaking. The temple committee and the pujari community demand justice and want the accused arrested at the earliest," Bhardwaj told PTI.

According to preliminary information, the accused men were creating a nuisance and not following the temple rules. They also asked for 'prasad', which Singh could not give as it was finished, he said.

"Yogendra must have asked them to adhere to the rules, which angered them and led to this heinous act. The sevadars here have been serving the temple for generations, tying the sacred thread for devotees," Bhardwaj said.

"His post-mortem is underway. His family is devastated and so are we. The brutal nature of this attack has shocked everyone. Strict action must be taken so that no such crime is repeated ever again against temple sevadars," he added.

Recalling the incident, another temple 'sevadar', Raju, said, "He (Singh) was sitting in his dharamshala when 10 to 15 men dragged him outside and beat him to death. He had been working here for the last 10 to 15 years. All the prasad offered in the temple is distributed among devotees. When these men asked him for prasad, he had to refuse as there was none left."

Raju claimed that the attackers took advantage of the fact that other sevadars had gone inside to perform puja. "Finding him alone, they pounced on him and beat him to death," he said.

AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal hit out at the BJP over the incident, terming it a failure of law and order.

In a post on X, the former chief minister said, "Did these miscreants not even flinch before brutally killing a sevadar inside the Kalkaji temple? If this is not a failure of law and order, then what is? The four engines of the BJP have brought Delhi to such a state that now even temples are witnessing such incidents. Is anyone really safe in Delhi anymore?"