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Kachha-Banyan gang kills village priests |
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The Tribune, October 5, 1999 Kachha-Banyan gang kills village priests By M L Kapur The Times of India News Service PIRTHALA: The kachha-banyan gang struck in the wee hours of Monday, killing four mahants in a temple on the outskirts of this village on Mathura road, 15 km from Faridabad. Two other mahants, who were seriously injured in the attack which took place at 1.30 a.m., have been hospitalised. The assailants, numbering over 10 and armed with iron rods and lathis, decamped with gold jewellery of the idols worth lakhs of rupees. Before fleeing under the cover of darkness, they also attacked a farmer and snatched the gold and silver jewellery of his wife and daughter. Head mahant Kanchan Das escaped the attack as he was in his room on the first floor when the incident took place. He said some people knocked at his door asking for ``medical assistance for their child'', but he did not open the door. Shortly afterwards, he came downstairs to find four of his colleagues dead and two injured. Mahant Kanchan Das said he then went to the Gadpuri police post, 1 km from the village, to report the incident but the lone munshi there ``did not listen to him''. The police reached the spot at 7.30 a.m. and took the bodies for post mortem despite the Sadhu Samaj protesting against it. The district police chief, Mohammad Akil, who visited the spot later in the day, has suspended the entire staff of the police post, including its in charge, ASI Ashok Kumar. Meanwhile, villagers and members of the Sadhu Samaj have been blocking traffic on the Mathura road since Monday morning, seeking arrest of the gang members who have looted and injured a number of villagers in Serai Khwaja and Palwal areas in the past couple of months. The Sadhu Samaj said their protest would continue till the culprits were arrested and bodies of the four mahants returned. Strikes in Delhi too NEW DELHI: The kachcha-baniyan gang (known so for its style of dressing) struck at seven places in northwest Delhi on Monday, injuring at least three persons. About eight to 10 armed members of the gang first looted 10 persons sleeping inside a nursery in the Siraspur area of Samaipur Badli. The incident took place at 12.30 a.m. Three hours later, they robbed the caretaker of a ball-bearing manufacturing factory in Alipur-Garhi village of Alipur. The assailants, who were travelling on foot, also attacked two persons with iron rods and sticks and fired at another person who put up a stiff resistance. The police would not say whether these attacks were linked to the strikes in Faridabad's Pirthala village. The Tribune, November 2, 1999 5 gangsters arrested Tribune News Service FARIDABAD, Nov 1 - The police claims to have arrested five members of a gang of ''kachha-banian'' who have created terror here and in surrounding areas. They have been identified as Amin, Amira, Nakki Mian, Ishaq and Aslam. All belonged to a jhuggi cluster of Nazafgarh in Delhi. They were having a number of assumed names to misguide the police. During interrogation gang members admitted that they had killed four persons, including three sadhus, when they attacked a temple-cum-dharmshala at Prithal early last month. They were also responsible for a number of lootings in Neemka, Mirzapur, Shahpur Khurd, Chandawali, Sotai and Bamnikhera villages in Ballabhgarh sub division. Villagers were so terrified that they had beaten to death two innocent persons mistaking them to be members of the kachha-banian gang. |
