Thieves hack off priest's 'magic' leg

Thieves hack off priest's 'magic' leg

POLICE in southern India are hunting two men accused of hacking off and stealing the right leg of a Hindu priest which he claimed had magical powers, they said today.

Last week the two men allegedly visited 80-year-old priest Yanadi Kondaiah and got him drunk before chopping off his right leg with a sickle, local police official Pendakanti Dastgiri said.

The priest was discovered by villagers and rushed to hospital, where he is reported to be responding well to treatment.

"Kondaiah told us that he ekes out livelihood by soothsaying in his native village" near the town of Tirupati in India's Andhra Pradesh state, the police official said.

"He claims his right leg possessed a rare mystic power which makes his predictions come true. The locals believe in his powers to cure spiritual and physical ailments," added Dastagiri, a police sub-inspector.

The suspects, said to be in their early 20s, apparently became interested in owning the leg after previous predictions given to them by Kondaiah turned out to be correct.

"On the statement of the complainant, Yanadi Kondaiah, we have registered a case for ... causing grievous hurt by dangerous weapon," the policeman said by telephone from the area.

"We can ascertain the motive only after we catch the culprits. Possibly, they thought they could make use of the magical powers allegedly possessed in the right leg."

He said special police units had been deployed to catch the culprits and recover the limb.