Temple priest hurt in attack by intruder

TIRUCHY: In a shocking incident, a temple priest was attacked by another ‘priest’ with sharp weapons in Tiruchy on Thursday.

According to sources, R Parthasarathy, the priest of Pathinettampadi Karuppasamy templeon Babu Road, near Rockfort, was performing pooja as usual in the shrine.

Suddenly, a person barged into to the temple holding a lemon and a sharp knife. The man, who lit a cigar, claimed he was also a priest and wanted to do pooja at the sanctum sanctorum.

But, Parthasarathy stopped him from entering the sanctum sanctorum and this led to an heated argument between them. Angered by Parthasarathy’s resistance, the man slit the priest’s throat and tried to flee the spot. Soon, devotees present in the temple and neighbours rescued Parthasarathy and rushed him to a private hospital in Devadanam. They also detained the intruder by locking him inside the temple.

Later, he was handed over to the Fort police. During inquiries, the mand identified himself as B Gunasekaran (40) of Tennnur in Tiruchy.

The man told to the police that he was in a possessed state and that was why he behaved violently. Police have registered a case and are investigating.