The police in Odisha’s Cuttack city arrested a 72-year-old man on Wednesday for allegedly beheading a man inside a temple in a bid to end the coronavirus pandemic, India Today reported.

The accused, identified as Sansari Ojha, is a priest at a temple near Bandhahuda village and claimed that he murdered the man after receiving “orders from God” in his dream. The victim was identified as Saroj Kumar Pradhan.

During interrogation, the accused told the police that he got into an argument with Pradhan over the “sacrifice”. As their argument intensified, Ojha hacked Pradhan to death with an axe, and he died on the spot.

Deputy Inspector General of Police (central range) Ashish Kumar Singh told India Today that initial inquiry found that the accused was heavily drunk at the time of the incident. “The next morning when he came back to his senses, he surrendered and accepted the crime,” he added. The police have also seized the axe and sent Pradhan’s body for postmortem.

The priest had a long-standing dispute with Pradhan over a mango orchard on the outskirts of the village, the police told Hindustan Times.