A labourer hailing from Madhya Pradesh, who was apparently depressed because of the lockdown and yearned to return home, chopped off his tongue at a temple in Gujarat's Banaskantha district, police said.

While some reports claimed it was a 'sacrifice' to appease the gods, the police did not confirm them.

Vivek Sharma (24), a native of Morena district in Madhya Pradesh, who worked as a sculptor, was found lying unconscious in a pool of blood at the temple of Nadeshwari Mataji at Nadeshwari village in Sui Gam tehsil on Saturday.

'We found him holding his chopped tongue in his hand and rushed him to Sui Gam hospital,' police sub-inspector H. D. Parmar said.

The temple where the incident took place is looked after by the Border Security Force (BSF). Sharma worked at another temple, located 14 km away.

As per the preliminary inquiry, Sharma had been extremely homesick and restless ever since lockdown was imposed for containing the spread of coronavirus, banning inter-district or inter-state movement.

A local BSF official said Sharma might have thought of offering his tongue as a sacrifice to the goddess so that circumstances may change and he could return home.

However, police said they cannot ascertain what exactly happened until Sharma recovers and his statement is recorded.