The manager of a Hindu monastery was murdered in a southern Indian town, where another killing five months ago led to the arrest of two top Hindu clerics, police said Thursday.
The body of Srinivasachar, 40, was found in a pool of blood Thursday in a large room of Vaishno Uttaranchal Mutt, a monastery in Kanchipuram in southern Tamil Nadu state, a police officer said on condition of anonymity.
Srinivasachar, who used a single name, administered the monastery, which serves as an inn for north Indian pilgrims to the temple town.
Kanchipuram is an important center of Hindu religion and has hundreds of centuries-old temples and monasteries.
The manager of another Hindu monastery was hacked to death in September last year in Kanchipuram, nearly 300 kilometers (185 miles) east of Bangalore, the capital of Karnataka state.
Investigations led to the arrest last month of two abbots of the monastery, which outraged Hindu nationalists.
The clerics denied the police charge that they ordered the killing of Sankararaman, who used only one name, in September after he complained about misuse of the monastery's funds.
Sankararaman also had written a letter to the top cleric, Jayendra Saraswathi, threatening to start proceedings to remove him as the monastery's chief.
Four days later, Sankararaman was killed.
Jayendra was later released on bail by the Supreme Court.
But his junior, Vijayendra Saraswathi, was still in jail pending a police investigation.