The spot near Ardhanarishwar temple at Old Town where Bhagaban Samartha was attacked. Picture by Ashwinee Pati

Bhubaneswar, Feb. 21: Police are clueless about the murderous attack on a priest of Lingaraj temple on February 19, a day before Maha Shivratri.

However, family members of 45-year-old Bhagaban Samartha suspect that drug peddlers and addicts, who roam around the temple area, have attacked the priest.

Bhagaban’s condition was improving, but he was still not able to speak properly as his throat had been slit. The priest, who used to carry the mahadeep (ceremonial lamp) to the temple top on the Maha Shivratri day as part of a ritual, was found lying in a pool of blood beside a graveyard near the Ardhanarishwar temple at Old Town.

Initially, it was suspected that the attack was the fallout of a dispute among the servitors of Samartha nijog, one of the 36 nijogs (services) for the Lord.

The dispute, it was said, was over the sharing of the earnings on Maha Shivratri. But, his brother, Basant Samartha, ruled it out, saying that there was no dispute among the servitors.

“We had no dispute. Our family had been doing this ritual for generations and my brother had been performing the ritual of carrying the mahadeep to the temple top for the past 20 years,” said Basant. In the absence of Bhagaban, who is admitted at SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack, one of his four brothers performed the ritual yesterday.

Basant hinted at the role of drug peddlers and addicts, to whom the graveyard near the Ardhanarishwar temple is a safe haven.

“We suspect that drug addicts, who are always on a look out for people they can rob, had attacked him,” said Basant.

Local residents also alleged that the drug addicts had been creating nuisances in the area for several years.

“They commit several crimes, ranging from snatching to attacking people for money,” said Santosh Rath, a local resident.

Bhagaban’s family members said there was a meeting among the Samartha nijog members around 12pm on February 19.

“In the afternoon, he came home and changed his priest’s clothes. Wearing plain clothes he went out. After around 3pm, we came to know that he had been attacked and was severely injured,” said a family member. Bhagaban, a father of two, had sustained injuries in his throat, chest, hands, and ankles.

Used bottles of drugs and syringes could be spotted scattered at the graveyard where Bhagaban was attacked. Sources said the police had raided the graveyard on that day and cleaned up the area.

Airfield police, who are investigating the case, said they were not sure whether Bhagaban tried to commit suicide or criminals had attacked him. “We are looking at all angles,” said deputy commissioner of police Nitinjeet Singh.

However, the police said they had never come across any complaint of drug peddling or drug addicts, creating nuisance in the area. “Now, people have brought the charges of drug abuse in the area. We will look into that also,” said a senior police officer.