Uttar Pradesh: Ayodhya priest ends life, blames police

Ayodhya: A priest of a temple in Ayodhya was found hanging in his room, police said on Tuesday.

The body was found on Monday afternoon. A video later emerged on social media where the priest, identified as Ram Shankar Das of Ayodhya’s Narasimha temple, alleged that he was driven to suicide due to harassment by local police.

Das was booked a few days ago by local police in a case related to the disappearance of an elderly mahant of the same temple who went missing a few months ago.

Ayodhya Kotwali SHO Manoj Sharma said, “The priest was addicted to drugs and ended his life under the influence of drugs. The allegations he made against the police are totally false. We are investigating the matter.”

The post-mortem report is awaited.