PRIEST QUIZZED OVER THEFT AT JAIN TEMPLE KILLS HIMSELF

MUMBAI: A 60-year-old priest of a Jain temple who had been questioned by police over a theft inside the temple that occurred in July, committed suicide inside the temple on Sunday in Borivli (East).

Magansingh Parmar, the priest, named five people including trustees of the temple and other committee members in his suicide note. Based on this, all five people were booked under Section 306 (abetment of suicide) of the Indian Penal Code.

According to Kasturba Marg police, the incident took place around 4.15am. Parmar was a resident of Dahisar (East).

A police officer from Kasturba Marg police said on condition of anonymity, “A suicide note was found on Parmar in which he said he was feeling isolated after the theft incident. A scared vessel was stolen from the temple in July. After this incident Parmar felt he did not get the desired support from the trustees. He also felt they were ganging up against him.” During investigation police found that CCTV footage inside the temple on the day of the incident showed a woman stealing the sacred vessel. The police trail went cold as they could not identify the woman.

Parmar’s son Sanjeev Kumar, 23, said his father had been taken for questioning four times by the police, starting on December 7. “He was to go for questioning on Monday. But he took the extreme step on Sunday,” he said.