Guwahati: The Assam Police Crime Branch has apprehended at least five people in connection with the alleged human sacrifice at the Kamakhya Temple in Guwahati in June 2019.
The incident occurred in 2019, just before the Ambubachi Mela.
The total number of arrests in the case has now risen to nine, with three of them made recently.
The victim, a lady, was identified, and it was discovered that she arrived at the temple by train and prayed before her tragic end.
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Speaking to the press “On June 19-June 20, 2019, an event occurred in Jai Durga Temple stairs whereby a woman’s body was found without his head,” said Guwahati Commissioner of Police.
Following an inquiry, the city police failed to acquire any information about the deceased, but declared it to be a murder case, and a case was filed at the Jalukbari police station.
As news of the headless body spread on social media, a man, Suresh Shaw, from West Bengal’s Hooghly district, came forward to Guwahati on July 28, 2019, and claimed that his mother (Shanti Shaw), who came to Ambubachi Mela, did not return home. The missing case was closed after the body was identified, but police were still looking for the accused.
“On June 19, the beheaded body of an unnamed woman was discovered in the stairs of Joy Durga Temple,” Diganta Barah stated. In this regard, a suo-moto case was filed with the Jalukbari Police Station, and an extensive investigation was initiated. Suresh Shaw, the victim’s son from Tatipara in West Bengal’s Hooghly, arrived at the Jalukbari Police Station on July 28, 2019, after learning about the recovery of the woman’s headless body and, based on her clothing and other identification marks, identified the victim as his mother Santi Shaw (64).”
Meanwhile, Assam police detained Suresh Paswan, Kanu Tantrik, Raju Baba alias Bhiaya Ram Mauriya, and Pradeep Pathak based on Mata Prasad Pandey’s allegation.
The Sadhu further stated that the mastermind of the entire affair was Pradeep Pathak (52), a government employee from Varanasi in Marthuri.
