Mayawati slams Uttar Pradesh govt over attack on priest in Gonda

Lucknow, Oct 12: Terming as "very shameful" the attack on a temple priest in Gonda district, BSP president Mayawati on Monday said even saints are not safe in the "government led by a saint" in the state.

On Sunday morning, a temple priest in Gonda was injured after he was shot at by some miscreants over a land dispute in a village in the district.

In a tweet in Hindi, the BSP president said, "Like Rajasthan, a deadly attack on the temple priest in Gonda district of UP by land mafia with the intention to occupy the temple land is very shameful...saints are no longer safe in the government led by a 'saint'. Could there be a worse law and order situation than this."

She asked the State government to initiate strict action against the culprits in the case and confiscate the property of all land mafia related to the incident.

The former UP chief minister also demanded that the safety of holy men in the state be increased. The priest of Ram Janki Temple, spread over 30 acres, and some villagers had a dispute over land in Tirre Manorama village, Superintendent of Police, Gonda, Shailesh Kumar Pandey had said.

Some miscreants fired shots at Atul Baba alias Samrat Das, which hit his left shoulder. Das was taken to the district hospital and then referred to the King George Medical University in Lucknow, where his condition is stable, the SP had said.