Overview

• Ramnagar police initiated a formal investigation by scanning temple CCTV to verify claims of casteist slurs and physical assault inside the sanctum sanctorum.
• Shailendra Pratap Gautam alleges priest Aditya Tiwari and his sons barred him from offering prayers and struck him with a vessel and a bell.
• Aditya Tiwari has submitted a counter complaint accusing the devotee of attempting to molest his daughter-in-law during the worship dispute.
• Preliminary police findings have not confirmed caste-based insults and note that other members of Gautam’s family regularly worship at the Lodheshwar Mahadev Temple.
• The Uttar Pradesh Scheduled Caste Commission has demanded detailed responses from the District Magistrate and Superintendent of Police under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.