Bengaluru: Three unidentified assailants allegedly attacked two priests and looted a temple at Balivali in Maharashtra's Palghar district, police said on Friday.

The incident took place at around 12.30 am on Thursday when three armed men barged into Jagrut Mahadev Mandir and Ashram at Balivali in Vasai taluka, an official said.

The trio attacked the temple's head priest Sankaranand Saraswati and his assistant and decamped with valuables worth Rs 6,800, he said.

Also Read: Close on the heels of Palghar, 2 more sadhus killed

An offence has been registered under section 394 (causing hurt while committing robbery) and other relevant provisions of the Indian Penal Code, the station house officer of Virar police station said.

Incidentally, this is the third such incident involving sadhus in Maharashtra. 

In Palghar itself, 2 sadhus and their driver were lynched by a mob of 200 people a little more than a month ago on the suspicion that they had come to kidnap children. 

Most shockingly, Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray remained deafeningly silent initially. But he was shamed into action only after the attack visuals went viral. 

Last week, two more sadhus were killed in Maharashtra even as the entire country was yet to come to terms with the earlier tragedy. 

Also Read: Palghar lynchings lawyer killed!

As per Zee News report, one accused has been caught and Rs 2,000 has been recovered from him, while the other two are still absconding.

The police have registered a case against the perpetrators and are conducting investigations. They also informed that the trio attacked Shankaranand Dayanand Saraswati (54) and his co-worker Shyamsingh Somsingh Thakur (60) the two priests of Jagrit Mahadev Temple.

These sustained and targeted attacks against sadhus in Maharashtra are only robust proofs that their lives are in peril. 

Uddhav Thackeray must be held accountable and answerable. 

The matter is simply beyond the ochre robes of the sadhus! It exposes the cloak Uddhav Thackeray wear