A 75-year-old priest’s alleged Agni Samadhi (self-immolation due to religious reasons) triggered a Sati-like religious frenzy in Ruariya village, 25 km from Morena district headquarters in north Madhya Pradesh on Wednesday morning.

However, Morena SP Santosh Kumar Singh said the death might be accidental due to either asphyxia or sudden cardiac arrest.

“The clothes of Ram Avtar Das Gurjar, a priest at the local Hanuman temple, possibly caught fire from a candle kept nearby. He had a cardiac arrest on Tuesday night. The viscera taken out by the forensic team has been sent to laboratory for further investigation,” Singh told Hindustan Times.