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Updated: Jan 02, 2019 17:03 IST

Body of a 60-year-old priest was found hanging in the Ram Janki temple premises in Unchahar town of Rae Bareli, Uttar Pradesh on Wednesday, police said.

The locals alleged that the priest, identified as Baba Prem Das, had been murdered by land mafia who were trying to grab the land of temple trust for the last many years.

Locals claimed that the priest had also written to the district magistrate of Rae Bareli citing threat to his life.

The priest’s body has been sent for post-mortem examination. “It is yet to be ascertained if the priest has been murdered or he has committed suicide,” Sunil Kumar Singh, superintendent of police (SP), said.

The SP, however, accepted that there was a dispute over the possession of land. “Circle officer (CO) of Dalmau Vineet Singh is in Unchahar with a huge police force to avert any untoward incident. Further investigations are on,” he added.

CO Vineet Singh said the body was found hanging from the ceiling above the temple gate, which was about 15-feet high.

“Hundreds of villagers gathered at the spot and alleged foul play. The body could not be brought down for over six hours in view of protest by the residents,” he added.

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A local resident, who did not wish to be named, claimed that Panchsheel Mahavidyalaya, owned by the aides of a senior politician, was situated on the land of the temple trust.

He said there was a dispute between the trust and the college owners over the possession of land.

“Recently, the trust got a court order in its favour which directed the district administration to get the illegally occupied land vacated,” he added.

“To mount pressure on the priest, the land grabbers also tried to implicate him in fake cases after which he made another priest, Mauni Baba of Amethi, the head of the trust. Mauni Baba recently visited the temple and staged a protest demanding that the district administration should get the land vacated,” he added.