'Meat-eating priest' expelled from Kanpur temple after viral photograph sparks row

KANPUR (UP): (Mar 10) A priest, who was mobbed after a photograph of him purportedly eating non-vegetarian food went viral, has been expelled from duties at the temple by his father, the 'mahant', while his whereabouts are unknown, officials said on Tuesday.

Santosh Giri, the chief priest of the Baba Shri Bhuteshwar Dham Temple in Keshavpuram, said the person in the viral photograph is his son Prashant Giri alias Golu Pandit.

"I am the mahant of the temple, not my son. As soon as I came to know that he had eaten non-vegetarian food, I expelled him from service at the temple," Santosh Giri told reporters.