4 members of family injured in attack by priest in Chhattisgarh

Four members of a family were injured after they were stabbed allegedly by a priest who was apparently annoyed when they raised questions over his way of performing rituals in Chhattisgarh's Durg district, police said on Wednesday.

The priest, identified as Dinu Sharma (38), was arrested after the incident which took place in Charauda town of the district on Tuesday, Durg Additional Superintendent of Police (Urban) Sanjay Dhruv said. As per preliminary investigation, the accused priest had come to the house of one Vishnu Sahu (44) around noon to perform rituals of Lord Shiva for the well-being of his son Jitesh (18) who was facing some mental health issues, he said.

After the puja, Vishnu Sahu made critical comments about Sharma's way of performing rituals which apparently angered the latter, the police officer said.

The priest left the house, but returned at 4 pm and offered 'prasad' laced with sedatives to Vishnu Sahu, his wife Nirmala (38), son and daughter aged 19, he said.

After consuming 'prasad', all four started feeling uneasy following which the accused attacked them with a sharp-edged weapon which he had brought with him, ASP Dhruv said.

On hearing their screams, the neighbours caught the priest and handed him to the police, he added.

The injured were rushed to a private hospital where the condition of Vishnu Sahu was said to be critical, the police officer added.

A case under section 307 (attempt to murder) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) was lodged against the priest and further probe was underway, Dhruv added.