DHARWAD, 23 JULY

A man was arrested for allegedly stabbing a priest to death on 21 July in the Hubballi-Dharwad City, the police said on Tuesday.

The murder case of the Vaishno Devi temple priest, Devendrappa Mahadevappa Vanahalli, 63, was solved after the accused was arrested on Monday night.

The Hubballi-Dharwad Police on Monday night nabbed the accused Santosh Tippanna Bhojgar, 44, a resident of G Adda in the Kamaripet police station limits.

The Police Commissioner N Shashi Kumar revealed that the accused killed Devendrappa on suspicion that the priest had performed religious rituals on his family, leading to disturbing incidents.

In recent years, the accused's three brothers and father had died, and his mother had suffered paralysis. Bhojgar believed that these events were consequences of the deceased priest's rituals, who conducted them at the request of Bhojgar's relatives.

Bhojgar had previously attempted to kill the priest in 2022 by stabbing him, but Devendrappa had survived the attack.

Despite their best efforts, the Vidyanagar police failed to identify or apprehend the accused at that time.

Since then, the accused had been keeping a close watch on the priest's movements, waiting for an opportunity to strike again. ANI