AHMEDABAD, Jan24 2012: An assistant priest of a temple in a village near the town of Sanand, 20km from here, clobbered four people to death and then committed suicide by hanging from the dome of the popular shrine.Dharamnath (41) hit three sadhus and a villager on the head with an iron rod while they were sleeping in the wee hours of Sunday after staying till 2am to prepare a huge stock of sweet balls meant for distribution as ‘prasad’. Three others, including the chief priest, were seriously injured in the attack. However, as villagers alerted by a survivor rushed to the temple, Dharamanth was pouring kerosene on the four bodies to set them afire. Seeing the villagers, he immediately disappeared. But soon he was found hanging from the dome of the temple, according to the police, who also said that the murderer had switched on the mechanically-operated drums in order to drown the victims’ cries. Local worshippers say Dharamnath had been serving in the temple for the past 15 years and was in a hurry to take over as the main priest. He planned the attack as he thought that the three murdered sadhus were being groomed for the post.
