Bikeborne men, throw meat inside mosque, kill cleric

VARANASI: A 70-year-old maulvi, Mohammad Younus, was shot dead by four unidentified persons when he was offering ‘namaz’ inside a mosque in Naseerpur village of Mau district late on Thursday, police said. .

The murder enraged the locals and sparked tension in the village. Things, however, calmed down after police assured locals of speedy action.

Police said the assailants had come on two motorbikes, adding that the reason for the killing was yet to be ascertained.

“They also threw a piece of meat on the premises of the mosque,” the police said.

Hearing the gunshots, locals rushed to the spot but the assailants had fled by then. The locals then informed the police.