Elderly priest, wife sustain burns in petrol bomb attack in Rajasthan

An elderly priest and his wife received burn injuries when a group of around 10 people allegedly hurled a petrol bomb at him in Rajasthan's Rajsamand district, officials said on Monday.

The attack took place on Sunday night in the Heera ki Basti area where Navratan Prajapat (72) was having dinner in a small accommodation he shares with his wife, they said.

The wife sustained injuries while trying to put the flames out, and both of them are undergoing treatment at a hospital, Deogarh police station SHO Shaitan Singh said.

He said some people have objections to Prajapat being the priest of a local temple and they want somebody else there.

Targeting the Congress government over the attack, Bharatiya Janata Party state president Satish Poonia said crime rate has increased but the government is not bothered.

"The chief minister has turned a blind eye towards such incidents which shows that criminals have political patronage from the government," he told reporters in Jaipur.

Poonia said those involved in the attack should be arrested at the earliest.

The officer said some people have been rounded up for questioning and the matter is being investigated further.