New Delhi: A spy camera found near Ghaziabad’s Ganga Canal in Muradnagar has led the police to book a priest from a nearby temple.
According to Ghaziabad Police, a devotee who visited the place with her daughter on 21 May noticed a camera pointed towards the portable structures that served as the women’s changing room. When the woman informed the priest, identified as Mukesh Goswami, he tried to threaten her, leading her to file a police complaint.
Goswami is currently absconding, but police allegedly found feed from the camera being streamed directly to his phone, which he had left behind.
“We retrieved five days of feed capturing women and children in an enclosed area. He used to watch it live on his phone,” Assistant Commissioner of Police Naresh Kumar told ThePrint, adding that cameras set up in the area had now been taken down.
Goswami has three to four criminal cases against him even before this, including for extortion, the police said.
He had been serving at the temple for over eight years, performing rituals like Chhath Puja.
Goswami has been booked under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 354 (criminal assault on a woman), 354C (watching or capturing an image of a woman engaged in a private act), 504 (intentional insult), and 506 (criminal intimidation).
Footage of over 100 women was allegedly found on his phone.
Meanwhile, authorities from the irrigation department said they had demolished the portable structures and taken down all cameras in the area on the orders of the Ghaziabad District Magistrate.
“The tin (changing room) structures on the canal bed were illegal and had not been given no-objection certificates from the irrigation department,” Ravi Pal Singh, a supervisor in the irrigation department, said.
Known locally as “Chhota Haridwar”, Muradnagar’s Ganga Canal is a popular destination for locals, especially in the summer.
When ThePrint visited the site, the large orange door of Goswami’s office at the temple was locked.
Despite the scandal and the scorching sun, the scene near the canal remains lively, with men, women, and children milling about and the sounds of laughter filling the air. Two security guards stationed at the entrance tell ThePrint that the canal sees over 1,000 visitors over weekends.
Only two permanent changing rooms remain on either side of the ghat. These structures are in poor condition, with dirty interiors and walls covered in flies. There’s a third washroom above the ghat, but frequent flooding makes it unusable.
Most visitors were unaware of the scandal. “It’s very hot. I came here with my family. I have no idea about the incident, but my daughters are changing their clothes in that room,” said one woman, pointing to one of the permanent changing rooms.
However, another visitor admitted she was spooked by the incident and was planning to leave as soon as she could.
(Edited by Uttara Ramaswamy)
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