Representational.
Ghaziabad: An Uttar Pradesh temple priest allegedly placed a hidden camera over a roofless bath used by women here, and police booked him. The CCTV camera feed was linked to the mobile phone of the priest, the Mahant of the temple, PTI reported.
Police said on Saturday that a woman who went to the temple adjacent to the Muradnagar Ganga canal noticed the camera pointed at the bathroom.
According to police, people usually offer prayers after taking a dip in the canal. The matter came to light when the woman who went to the temple with her daughter on May 21 noticed the camera.
"The woman noticed that the CCTV camera installed on the top was focused on the room where women change their clothes," said Deputy Commissioner of Police (Rural) Vivek Chandra Yadav.
The display of the CCTV was linked with Mahant's mobile phone, on which he would watch the ladies, DCP said.
The woman immediately contacted Mahant Goswami and asked about the CCTV camera on which he got angry and hurled abuses. He threatened her to face the dire consequences if she told anyone about the camera, the DCP said.
"After getting a complaint, the Muradnagar police lodged an FIR on Friday. When the police team reached the temple to arrest him, he was not there," said the DCP.
Police have registered a case against the Mahant under sections 354 (criminal assault on woman), 354 C (watching or capturing an image of women engaged in a private act), 504(intentional insult) and 506 (Criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code. Further investigation is underway.