Gonda (UP): Fourteen people including some assaulted the priests of Prithninath temple in the Khargupur area of Uttar Pradesh’s Gonda district and snatched money from him, the police said on Thursday. Out of 14 goons, seven have been arrested. According to reports 14 people attacked priests of the temple Dayashankar, who lives in Narayanpur Khas village. The attackers hurled abusive words at them and looted the money that they had received from the offerings. As the priests refused to obey them, the culprits bashed them up. Dayanarayan’s clothes were torn.
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Dayashankar alleged that the attackers caught hold of him and threatened him with dire consequences if he did not give the money. The devotees ran away because of the commotion. According to station house officer, an FIR has been registered against the culprits on the grounds of the complaints lodged by the priests. The temple located in Pachram village Panchayat is under district magistrate’s control. Shivalinga placed in the sanctum sanctorum of the temple is made of black stone. It is about five-foot high and two-meter wide. Because of the antiquity of the Shivalinga, the department of archaeology protects the temple.