Dhuri shocker: Temple priests murder man, bury body under ‘havan kund’

A 33-year-old man was murdered and his body was buried under the ‘havan kund’ of a temple in Dhuri town of Sangrur

Sangrur : A 33-year-old man was murdered and his body was buried under the ‘havan kund’ of a temple in Dhuri town of Sangrur.

A 33-year-old man, Sudeep Kumar, was murdered and his body was buried under the ‘havan kund’ of a temple in Dhuri town of Sangrur.

The police have arrested head priest of the temple Ashok Shastri and his assistant Parmanand for murder.

The deceased was identified as Sudeep Kumar, an unemployed, who went missing since May 2. He was a regular visitor to the temple, the police said.

Following the incident, the Sangrur police have locked the temple.

Dhuri deputy superintendent of police (DSP) Talwinder Singh Gill said the accused have been booked under Section 302 (murder), 34, 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of offence, or giving false information to screen offender) of the Indian Penal Code.

The DSP said they had recovered the body from the “havan kund”. He said the motive behind the murder would be ascertained after the interrogation of the accused.

Police have also rubbished reports of it being a case of human sacrifice.

“The victim was murdered elsewhere and his body was dumped under the ‘havan kund’,” said Dhuri station house officer (SHO) Saurav Sabharwal.

The SHO added that the police have been granted five-day remand of the accused. “So far, human sacrifice angle has not surfaced in the case, but we will investigate all possible angles,” added the SHO.

He said the victim’s family members had filed a missing complaint on May 3 morning and the body was recovered on May 3 night.

Victim’s father Gurinder Kumar said: “The priests of the temple were into sorcery and my son has been made victim of human sacrifice.”