New Delhi [India], September 10 : Peethadheeshwar of Kalkaji Temple in Delhi, Surendra Nath Avdhut, on Wednesday, said that propaganda is being spread to discourage devotees from going to the temple ever since a sevadar of the temple was killed on August 29.
He said that more police personnel are deployed at the temple premises, and that local administration is fully alert and prepared to provide smooth darshan to the devotees.
"Misleading propaganda is being spread that there is an atmosphere of fear and insecurity among the devotees inside the temple. Whereas this is not the case at all," Avdhut told ANI.
"The incident that happened on 29th August happened far away from the temple premises where the sevadaar died... The local administration is fully alert and prepared to provide smooth darshan to the devotees, and the entire system is well-organised. On the occasion of Navratri, a police post is built inside the temple premises and apart from that, some volunteers are also involved in it. An additional police force is also provided so that the devotees do not face any kind of inconvenience," he added.
The victim, Yogendra Singh, was allegedly beaten to death on the evening of August 29 following an altercation over 'prasad'. CCTV footage of the incident shows him lying on the ground while at least three men attacked him with sticks. Police registered a murder case soon after and began pursuing the accused.
Delhi police arrested three people in connection with the incident. They were identified as Mohan, alias Bhura, 19, and Kuldeep Bidhuri, 20 (both residents of Churiya Mohalla, Tughlaqabad), and Atul Pandey, a resident of Dakshinpuri.
The opposition Aam Aadmi Party had criticised the BJP government, saying that it failed to maintain law and order in the city.
"Didn't the hands of these miscreants tremble before they brutally murdered the sevadar inside the Kalkaji Temple? If this isn't a failure of law and order, then what is it?" former Delhi Chief Minister and AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal had asked in a post on X after the incident.
"The four engines of the BJP have brought Delhi to such a state that now such incidents are happening even in temples. Is anyone safe in Delhi or not?" he added.