India News | Priest Beaten to Death over Monetary Issue in Delhi

New Delhi, Jul 7 (PTI) A 62-year-old priest was allegedly beaten to death by a 22-year-old man over a monetary issue in northeast Delhi's Sonia Vihar area, police said on Thursday.

Following the incident, the accused was assaulted by some locals and is currently in a hospital, they said.

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Police received information around 5.40 am on Wednesday regarding a priest, identified as Soni Ram, being beaten up near Pusta in Sonia Vihar, an official said.

When a police team reached the spot, they found that Ram, a resident of Sonia Vihar, had been shifted to JPC hospital while the accused -- Sonu Bhatt -- was assaulted by the public and taken to Trauma Centre at Civil Lines, the officer said.

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Ram was later shifted to GTB Hospital where he succumbed to injuries in the evening, police said, adding that a case under Section 302 (murder) of IPC has been registered against Bhatt, a resident of Gonda district in UP, who is still hospitalised.

The accused sometimes used to clean the temple area for money, police said, adding he had a quarrel with the priest over money on Wednesday morning. Later, Bhatt was arrested, they said.

After preliminary investigation, it has surfaced that Bhatt is not in a "healthy state of mind" and was known to the deceased, the officer said.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)