NEW DELHI, April 4: The incident of a sharp weapon-wielding person trying to clear his way to enter the Gorakhnath temple in Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh shouting religious slogans has jolted the district administration as it occurred in the home base of the chief minister Yogi Adityanath. In addition, Adityanath is also the chief priest of the temple where the person, identified as Ahmed Murtaza Abbasi was trying to forcibly enter.
Two personnel of the Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) of the UP police, who were on guard duty at the entrance of the temple, sustained injuries in the attack by Murtaza. The assailants himself was also injured when a crowd threw stones at him and then overpowered him before handing over to the police. All the three including the two PAC personnel and Murtaza under arrest have been admitted in the hospital.
The police said it was investigating the case from all angles including the possibility of it being a terror attack could not be ruled out. His father Muneer Ahmed, however, claimed the 29-year-old Murtaza was suffering from depression after his wife left him a few months ago and wanted to commit suicide but chose the way of attacking the temple so that he would be “shot dead” by the police.
In dramatic videos, Ahmed Murtaza Abbasi is seen waving what appears to be a dagger and shouting just outside the Gorakhnath temple, the headquarters of the Gorakhnath mutt. Murtaza keeps lunging at the policemen and shopkeepers who try to catch him. A crowd is seen throwing rocks at Murtaza, who is finally pinned to the ground. The incident took place outside the temple gate at 7 pm on Sunday.
The UP Police has said Ahmed Murtaza was a resident of Gorakhpur who did gradation in chemical engineering from the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, in 2015, Additional Director General (Gorakhpur zone) Akhil Kumar said the police are collecting more details about Murtaza and that they would seek the Mumbai police’s help in the investigation.
“We have come to know that Murtaza was married and a few months ago his wife left him because of differences between them. We are yet to verify his marital status. He was working in a private firm in Mumbai and after losing the job last year, he returned to Gorakhpur and since then he has been staying here,” said a police officer posted in Gorakhpur based on a preliminary interrogation.
The accused is the only child of his parents and his father Muneer Ahmed also returned to Gorakhpur last year after working in a legal consultancy agency in Mumbai, said the police
Sources. During questioning, the family of the accused told the police that Murtaza left home on Saturday for some work and did not return since then. The police said they recovered a bag from the temple gate supposedly belonging to Murtaza. The police claimed to have found a pen drive, a laptop and a sharp-edged weapon inside the bag. They said they are examining the pen drive and laptop to collect more information about Murtaza. The police said they also recovered a cellphone, a PAN card, a ticket and Aadhar Card from his possession. .
“ltems recovered from the person makes it seems a big conspiracy was in play and we cannot deny that this could have been a terror attack,” said Prashant Kumar, Additional Director General, Law and Order.
“Our recoveries are quite sensational and we will share these with you at a later stage. Currently our investigation is at a preliminary stage. “Two cases have been registered and the local police are investigating right now but other directions will be passed soon,” Kumar said.
According to him, a proper security system was in place and this averted a disastrous situation. “If this person had gained entry, normal pilgrims could have been harmed. Those posted at the temple have shown tremendous restraint and arrested this person,” he said. Gorakhnath is one of the most high profile temples of UP because of the Chief Minister’s association. Yogi Adityanath has also represented Gorakhpur in parliament and recently won his first state election from the Gorakhpur Urban constituency.
(Manas Dasgupta)
