Mukalel's naked body was lying at a distance from his motorbike on which he was returning to Kutrupady near Belthangady in Dakshina Kannada after attending the funeral of another parish priest in the adjacent Charmadi village.

The young priest was recently posted at St. Mary's Church at Kutrupady after a three-year service at Thotthady near Belthangady.

The police in Karnataka have already registered a case of unnatural death. The body did not bear external wounds or signs of attack. The coastal district police have formed a team to investigate the priest's death as there was no pillion-rider with him or witness to give an account of the incident.

The coastal district had witnessed a spate of attacks last year on churches and chapels by Hindu activists protesting alleged forcible conversions by missionaries and priests.