Tension prevailed in the area after the attack as police visited the spot.
Armed assailants attacked the priest who was found profusely bleeding at 3.30 am as a ‘sevadar’ went to the temple.
People gathered after hearing the sevadar’s cries for help and called the 108 ambulance to take him to the civil hospital.
However, owing to delay in getting medical help, he died at the hospital.
The temple is located at Khatika Mohalla at Sadarpur in Kartarpur. No one reportedly saw the assailants.
While the identity of the assailants hasn’t been ascertained, police sources said a Jammu-based devotee, a regular at the temple, is suspected to be behind the attack.
An FIR has been registered under Section 302 of the IPC against unidentified people.
Kartarpur DSP Ranjit Singh said, “The priest was found injured in the wee hours of Monday. Since the assailants have fled, their identities or whereabouts weren’t known. But the police are looking for them.”