A property dealer in Uttar Pradesh’s Prayagraj allegedly chopped his 17-year-old nephew into pieces under the influence of a tantrik to end difficulties in his life, police said on Thursday.
Police said the accused, Sharan Singh, suffered losses in business. His two children died by suicide, and his brother succumbed to an illness.
Deputy police commissioner (city) Abhishek Bharti said Singh has confessed to his crime, and they were looking for the tantrik. He added that Singh led the police in recovering the body parts and told the investigators that he was in shock due to his daughter’s and son’s suicide.
Police said the tantrik asked him to sacrifice someone of the age of his own children to remove his problems. He said his nephew was an easy target as he was of his children’s age.
Singh was caught on CCTV camera taking the torso of his nephew on his scooter, wrapped in a red cloth, to dump it in a drain on Wednesday.
Police said Singh kidnapped his nephew on Tuesday morning as he was going to school. He allegedly gagged and dragged him inside before chopping him.
{{/usCountry}}Police said Singh kidnapped his nephew on Tuesday morning as he was going to school. He allegedly gagged and dragged him inside before chopping him.
{{/usCountry}}Police said Singh recited mantras as per the tantrik’s advice. He cut off his nephew’s head, hands, legs, and torso, and packed them separately in plastic bags wrapped in red and pink coloured bedsheets to hide blood stains.
Singh threw his nephew’s hands and legs in a forest, about 10 km from the house. The torso was dumped into a drain on Wednesday afternoon.
A woman grazing her buffalo saw him and raised an alarm. The people who gathered informed the police, who recovered the torso, scanned CCTV footage of around 200 cameras in which Singh could be seen bringing the large packet on his scooter.
Police arrested Singh on Wednesday night after identifying him through the registration number of his scooter.