A temple priest and his two associates were arrested on Thursday in connection with the murder of Raghvendra Bajpai, a journalist working with a Hindi daily, who was shot dead in the Maholi area of Uttar Pradesh’s Sitapur district on March 8, police said.

The priest, Vikas Rathore, alias Shivanand, gave Rs 4 lakh contract money to his acquaintances Nirmal Singh and Aslam Ghazi for eliminating Bajpai after he was spotted by the journalist sexually abusing a minor boy on the temple premises, Sitapur Superintendent of Police (SP) Chakresh Mishra claimed.

Nirmal and Aslam, both residents of the district, in turn hired two shooters for the job, the SP added.

The shooters, who have been identified, are absconding and efforts are on to arrest them, the SP said, adding that the two are hardcore criminals and have been jailed multiple times earlier.