A 45-year-old priest was shot dead over a dispute regarding a mobile phone in Bihar's Darbhanga district on Thursday, following which one of the alleged assailants was lynched by locals and two others were arrested by the police.

The incident took place early in the morning when four armed men barged into Kankali temple in the University police station area and shot dead priest Rajeev Kumar Jha and injured a devotee, Station House Officer Satya Prakash Jha said.

The injured devotee, identified as Shambhu Choudhary, has been hospitalised and his condition is stated to be stable, he said.

After the incident, locals chased the alleged assailants and nabbed three of them, while one managed to escape. The trio was brutally thrashed by the locals, as a result of which, one of them -- identified as Pulkit Singh -- died, while the other two were arrested by the police, the officer said.

"Preliminary investigation suggests that the deceased assailant had some dispute over a mobile phone with the priest's son," he said, adding further investigation is underway.

Locals, however, claimed that the slain priest had lodged a police complaint against the lynched man a few days ago but no further action was taken against him. Police, though, remained tight-lipped over the charge.

Note: Lead image used only for representational purpose