Karauli priest murder: Rajasthan CB-CID takes over investigation into case

The Rajasthan CB-CID (Crime Branch-Crime Investigation Department) will now be probing the murder case of a priest who was burnt alive allegedly by land grabbers in state’s Karauli district.

Issuing a press note on Sunday, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot said that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is trying to create disturbance in the state by making the quarrel between two families a dispute of two communities.

The incident which occurred on Wednesday has triggered a war of words between the BJP and the Congress, which is in power in Rajasthan.

CM Ashok Gehlot has accused BJP of removing the names of priests from the temple land in 1991, saying the Congress had opposed it and restored in 2011.

“But after this, Congress’s decision got a shock from the high court, yet, while in Opposition, the Congress had gone to the Supreme Court for the interests of the priests,” Gehlot said.

The BJP had hit out at the Congress over incidents of crime in Rajasthan, saying law and order in the state has “gone for a toss” and asked Rahul Gandhi to pay attention to it instead of visiting BJP-ruled states for “political tourism”.

Congress on Sunday also said those making comparisons between the incidents in Hathras and Karauli were doing so for “vested political interests” as while justice was not done in Uttar Pradesh, prompt action was taken in Rajasthan.

In UP’s Hathras, a 19-year-old Dalit woman was allegedly raped by four upper-caste men on September 14 and she succumbed to injuries at a Delhi hospital a fortnight later.

Meanwhile, BJP leader Kapil Mishra met the family members priest and offered them Rs 25 lakh as assistance collected from the public.

“It is a very painful incident, and I feel that no one should see such kind of suffering,” Mishra told the reporters after meeting the priest’s family.

He said Rs 25 lakh would be transferred to the account of the priest’s kin.