Lucknow, Jan 21 (IANS): An 85-year-old priest of a Shiva temple was brutally bludgeoned to death in Shivpur village on the outskirts of the Uttar Pradesh capital.

The blood-soaked body of the priest, Fakire Das, was found inside his hut on the temple premises on Wednesday. His assailants appeared to have used a brick to hit him. The brick was also recovered from the spot.

The priest's body was discovered by a villager who had come to the temple and later informed the police.

According to sources, the donation box was found broken and the cash in it was missing.

The food grains stocked in the storeroom of the temple complex were also missing.

Police sources said that there was a possibility that the priest had resisted a robbery attempt and was attacked by the miscreants with the brick.

Circle Officer of Bakshi Ka Talab police station, Hridesh Katheria said the priest had been staying alone in the temple for the past few years.

"The priest originally belongs to Sultanpur district and we have approached his family to know if there was any old dispute or apparent motive behind his killing," Katheria said.

He said the body has been sent for post-mortem after registering an FIR for murder against unidentified assailants.

A team of forensic experts and a dog squad were called to examine the crime scene but so far, no breakthrough had been made in the case.