A 30-year-old cleric was allegedly beaten to death by a group of three masked men inside a mosque in Rajasthan’s Ajmer.

According to the police, the incident took place at around 2 am on Saturday when the accused allegedly entered the mosque located in Kanchan Nagar under the Ramganj police station limits and attacked the cleric, Mohammad Mahir, with sticks, PTI reported.

Mahir died on the spot. Six children were also present inside the mosque when the incident occurred, the police said.

The trio allegedly threatened the children not to disclose the matter and took away their mobile phones so that they could not inform anyone or call for help. After the accused fled, the children came out of the mosque and told people about the incident, police added.

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Mahir used to teach children in the mosque, according to the police.

SHO Ramganj Ravindra Singh said Mahir’s body was handed over to his family members after they arrived in Ajmer from Uttar Pradesh.

A case has been registered against unidentified persons under Section 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code.

The SHO said so far no arrest has been made in this connection and efforts are on to identify and arrest the accused.

Mahir’s brother, Mohammad Amir, told The Indian Express that they have given names of three people to the police.

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“My brother had told us many times that some people in the area were not happy with him handling the madrasa. Those people wanted to take control of the institution. He never liked living in Ajmer but after the death of his mentor Maulana Zakir Hussain last year in October, he was given its charge. We have given the names of the people who might be behind the killing,” Mohammad Amir told IE.

Police have found two sticks, the suspected murder weapons, near the mosque and are scanning CCTV footage. A dog squad team was also called to the spot.

(With inputs from PTI)