Tension in Bihar village after priest shot dead, body brutalised

A priest, who had been missing for the last couple of days, was shot dead and his body brutalised in Bihar's Gopalganj district. The incident triggered clashes between the locals and the police, during which two police officials suffered minor injuries. The victim's eyes were gouged out and genitals chopped off, police said. 

The victim, Manoj Kumar, a priest of a Shiva temple in Danapur village of the district, had been missing for the past six days. His brother Ashok Kumar Shah is a former divisional president of the BJP.

The police said Manoj Kumar disappeared when he went to the temple from his house. The police had begun investigating but were not able to find him.

On Saturday, the police found the victim's body in the bushes of the village. Locals, on coming to know about the news, accused the police of negligence. Clashes then erupted during which locals threw stones at the police personnel and set a police vehicle parked on a highway on fire.

The police then took stock of the situation by continuously firing in the air. Gopalganj Sadar Sub-Divisional Police Officer (SDPO) Pranjal reached the spot later and managed to pacify the agitated locals.

Suresh Shah, another brother of Manoj Kumar, who was at the temple when the latter disappeared, said his family had assumed that Manoj Kumar had gone out somewhere and would come back soon.

"Some people from the district administration came and assured us that an investigation would be done soon. But after six days, my brother's body was found. We don't know how and why the murder took place," Suresh Shah said.

Pranjal, the SDPO, said the situation in the village was under control and an adequate police force had been called in.

"The highway has been cleared now. People had thrown stones at the police officials. In this case, an FIR will be registered, and further action will be taken," he further said.