Main accused in seer’s murder nabbed in Delhi

The main accused in Magh Mela seer murder case, Rajesh Kumar Gaur was arrested from Punjabi Bagh in Delhi on Thursday. Later on his lead, the police also recovered his blood-stained clothes hidden near a bridge at Sangam.
He was tracked to Delhi through electronic surveillance and was brought back to the city where he allegedly confessed to the crime.
A resident of Babu Chapra village of Kushinagar, Gaur was wanted in connection with the murder of 65-year-old saint Ratneshvaranand in Manav Utthan Sewa Samiti camp at Magh Mela.
The police said that Gaur allegedly told them that he used shovel to kill the saint when the latter was busy in prayers. The police further said that the accused attacked the saint twice. As loudspeakers installed at Magh Mela were blaring at high pitch, nobody heard saint’s cries for help.
The police said that after killing the saint, the accused hid blood-stained clothes near a bridge and escaped to Civil Lines bus stand from where he took a bus to Lucknow from where he travelled to Delhi via Moradabad.
Police said that Rajesh had been working as sewadaar in different camps since 2008. After good work in initial year, he became infamous among saints for notoriety. Despite being associated with ashram, he was caught talking with a Gorakhpur-based sevika (woman follower) and later had heated arguments with other followers on the night of January 16.
When saint Ratneshvaranand returned to Allahabad from Mathura, he scolded Rajesh for his misdeed and threatened him to either leave the ashram or mend his ways. An angry Rajesh decided to eliminate the saint, said the police.