AP

Hyderabad, Dec 15: Two men attacked an 80-year-old self-proclaimed holy man in Andhra Pradesh and chopped off his right leg, apparently believing it had magical powers.

Yanadi Kondaiah, who claimed that those who touched his leg would be cured of illness or have wishes granted, was hospitalised in serious condition after the attack Tuesday December 11, said senior police officer R Ravindranath Reddy.

"We are looking for the miscreants as well as the leg," Reddy said over telephone from Chittoor.

"This seems to be a case of superstition. The two people might have taken away the leg hoping to benefit from its magical powers," said Pendakanti Dastgiri, the police officer handling the case.

Kondaiah told police that two men offered him a drink as thanks for previously helping them with his magical touch.

After he passed out drunk, the men chopped off the leg below the knee with a sickle and left him to die, said Dastgiri, adding that passing villagers found him and took him to a hospital.