Two sadhus living in Haridwar’s Pathreshwar Mahadev temple in the Pathri area were allegedly murdered, and their bodies were later found buried in a pit in a nearby forest, police said on Tuesday.
The two were identified as Sewa Giri and Uttam Giri by the police after they were alerted of their disappearance since Monday by temple staff.
A search operation led by Pathri police station in-charge Rabindra Singh was launched late Monday night.
“Police teams spotted a portion of land that appeared to have been dug up in a nearby forest area, following which the bodies of the two monks were recovered,” superintendent of rural police, Shekhar Chandra Suyal said.
A forensic team was also called to the scene to collect the samples, police said.
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“It has also come to light that three monks had recently arrived and stayed at the temple but went missing around the same time on Monday morning. All angles are being probed. The postmortem report is awaited. We will soon arrest the accused and disclose the details of the case,” Suyal said.
Temple staff, saints and devotees have demanded time-bound arrest of those responsible.
{{/usCountry}}Temple staff, saints and devotees have demanded time-bound arrest of those responsible.
{{/usCountry}}On Tuesday, police registered a murder case against three unidentified accused at the Pathri police station. SSP Haridwar Navneet Singh Bhullar formed two police teams to identify and arrest those allegedly involved in the killings.
Police officers also asked temple staff and members of the temple committee to verify whether any cash, idols, donations or other valuables and articles were missing from the temple premises.
Probe is underway, police said.