Radical Hindu leader shot dead

A RADICAL Hindu leader was shot dead in full public view in India on Friday (4) as he protested the alleged desecration of his faith’s idols, police said.

Sudhir Suri, 58, the self-styled leader of a fundamentalist religious group, Hindu Shiv Sena, was killed in the northern city of Amritsar -- the site of the Sikh faith’s holiest shrine, the Golden Temple.

“The assailant arrived on the spot and shot him dead in full public view,” top police officer Arun Pal Singh told AFP, adding Suri had been shot several times.

The attacker was detained at the scene and was found to be carrying a licensed weapon, he said.

Suri, who according to local media reports enjoyed police protection, had sparked the anger of many Sikhs who accused him of making derogatory remarks about their faith and community.

Media reports said that he was shot while protesting against what he claimed was the discovery of desecrated Hindu idols on a rubbish dump in the city.

In 2020, Suri was arrested after enraged members of the Sikh community in India and abroad accused him of denigrating women and disparaging their faith in a video widely shared over social media.

He was again arrested on similar accusations in July.