A 35-year-old man working as a sevadaar in a temple in the Kalkaji constituency of Delhi was allegedly beaten to death by some devotees over a quarrel about prasad on Friday night. One of the accused has been nabbed by the police.
The victim, identified as Yogendra Singh, hailed from Hardoi in Uttar Pradesh. He had been serving as a Sewadaar at the Kalkaji temple for 15 years. The accused group had asked for "Chunniprasad" (religious offering of food, with the sacred headscarf) from Singh, who asked them to wait for a few minutes. This ensued the argument further, as the men started beating Singh, with fists, sticks, and iron rods.
According to a fellow sevadaar at the temple (quoted by news agency ANI), "What I know is, around 9 PM, they took him from the Dharamshala. There were about 10-15 people. They had iron rods and sticks, and they beat him to death. They were asking them for prasad, and he asked them to wait for a few minutes, after which they started threatening him...Whenever these people came to the temple, they came with an aggressive attitude and expected us to give them whatever they wanted."
— ANI (@ANI) August 30, 2025
The CCTV footage also shows the victim on the ground, while three people were beating him with sticks.
ANI reported that the cops received a call in the police control room about the temple incident at around 9:30 pm. Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Southeast Delhi, Hemant Tiwari, said that the victim was rushed to the AIIMS trauma centre, where he succumbed to death while being treated.
A case has been filed under the Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) Section 103(1) (murder) and Section 3(5) (joint liability) at the Kalkaji Police Station.
The DCP added, "One of the accused, Atul Pandey (aged 30 years), a resident of Dakshinpuri, was caught on the spot by the locals and handed over to the police."
An investigation is underway to identify and arrest the remaining accused.