Jaipur: A temple priest named Girraj Sharma sustained 60 per cent burn injuries after he set himself on fire in the early hours of Thursday outside the house of a former chairman of the temple development committee of Laxmi Narayan Mandir in Jaipur’s Shankar Vihar area.
Sharma, who is a priest at the temple, was rushed to the Sawai Mansingh (SMS) Hospital where he is undergoing treatment.
The police have taken possession of the CCTV cameras installed in the area where the incident took place.
The temple was established in 2002. Initial probe suggests that a dispute was going on between the temple committee members and Sharma, who has been living in the temple for many years now. The priest was reportedly told to vacate the temple premises along with his family.
On Thursday morning, Sharma set himself on fire outside the house of Moolchand Mann, a former chairman of the temple development committee.
Sharma’s wife Chandrakanta said, “Some people were harassing him for the past two months. They did so even on Wednesday evening. Panditji used to worship at the temple without any selfish motive, but these people kept on harassing him despite knowing that he did not take any money from anyone.”
While the members of the temple trust have been called to the police station, Moolchand Mann was not found at his home.
(IANS)
