Allahabad tense after calf’s severed head found in temple
Tension prevailed in Teliarganj area of Allahabad after a devotee found the severed head of a calf on the premises of a Shiva temple on Saturday, police said.
According to reports, a devotee spotted a calf’s head at Akhileshwar Mahadev Temple and informed the priest. As the news spread, VHP and Bajrang Dal activists staged a protest and demanded action against the accused.
Teams from various police stations and personnel of PAC and RAF were deployed in the area to avert any untoward incident. A company of army personnel from Cantonment also reached the spot.
SSP Shalabh Mathur said an FIR had been lodged against unidentified people on the complaint of temple priest . He said the Gangster Act and the National Security Act would also be imposed on the culprits. “The police will use the footage from CCTV cameras installed in a nearby school to identify the culprits. ,” the SSP said.
As a precautionary measure, Maharshi Patanjali School opposite the temple suspended classes and asked the parents to take their children back home.
Eight SIMI activists managed to escape from the high-security Bhopal Jail late last year because the Special Armed Forces (SAF) personnel deployed to guard them were sleeping on the job, a preliminary report prepared by the prison department found.
The document, which could become a major embarrassment for the Madhya Pradesh government, also stated that the CCTV cameras meant for keeping a watch on the escapees’ cell were not functioning.
The SIMI activists had fled from the prison in the wee hours of October 31, 2016. They were killed by police on the outskirts of the city a few hours later.
A source said the SIMI activists killed a prison guard and escaped by scaling the boundary wall even as eight SAF personnel slept just 50 metres away. As they had been positioned in two groups with a clear view of the terror suspects’ cell, the escape could have been prevented with a shout or a single gunshot if they were awake, he added.
Director general (jails) Sanjay Choudhary said it was surprising that no action has been taken against the personnel for dereliction of duty, considering that the report was submitted to the SAF some time ago.
This was in stark contrast to the punitive action taken against all the jail officers present on the prison premises during the time of the escape. Security personnel from the seventh and 32nd battalions had been stationed at the jail.
Jayadevan A – the commandant in-charge of the seventh battalion – said a departmental inquiry has been initiated on the basis of the preliminary report, and action will be taken once the probe is complete.
THE REPORT ALSO STATED THAT THE CCTV CAMERAS MEANT FOR KEEPING A WATCH ON SIMI ACTIVISTS’ CELL WERE NOT FUNCTIONING