Bihar: Priest’s body found at temple in Samastipur

SAMASTIPUR/PATNA: The body of a priest, Surendra Kumar Rai, was found at a temple in Mohanpur under the Mufassil police station area of Samastipur district on Saturday morning. The locals spotted his body on the veranda when they reached the temple to worship the deities.
Eyewitnesses told police that blood was oozing out of Surendra’s mouth and he had injury marks on his face and neck.
The SHO of the Mufassil police station, Praveen Kumar Mishra, told this newspaper that the postmortem report would clarify if the priest was murdered or he died naturally. “Surendra’s son, Shambhu Kumar, has claimed that he had a fight with his nephew, Anil Rai, over a piece of land on Friday evening. He, therefore, suspects Anil’s involvement in the alleged murder,” he added.
A resident of Mohanpur, Surendra had reportedly spent a lot of money on the construction of the temple by selling a part of his land. He used to sleep in a room built on the premises of the temple every night.