Guwahati: At least five people have been arrested by the Crime Branch of the Assam Police in connection with the human sacrifice that allegedly took place in June 2019 at the Kamakhya Temple in Guwahati.
The incident allegedly took place just before the Ambubachi Mela at the Kamakhya temple located atop Nilachal Hills.
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The total number of people arrested in the case has now risen to five of which at least two were arrested from other states.
Guwahati Commissioner of Police, Diganta Barah said that the police identified five people as the prime accused of the human sacrifice incident that took place in 2019.
He said the accused were identified as Mata Prashad Pandey alias Mateshwar Giri arrested from Madhya Pradesh, Suresh Paswan of Jalukbari, Kanu Acharjee alias Tantrik who usually lives at the Bhootnath crematorium, Raju Baba alias Bhayaram Maoriya of Varanasi and Pradip Pathak alias Dinesh of Mathura, UP.
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The top cop informed that of them, Pradip Pathak is a government employee. He is known to have blind faith or superstitions that led him to the human sacrifice.
The police added that during the investigation they found that Pathak alias Dinesh’s brother was a Naga Sadhu who died years ago on the same date when he along with the others executed the human sacrifice.
The prime accused of the crime has been identified as Dinesh and Mata Prasad who met him in Bengal and orchestrated the plan.
Commissioner Diganta Barah said the accused had brought the victim woman with them from West Bengal to sacrifice her to gratify the mother goddess, Kamakhya.
He added that the accused on June 18, 2019, bought a machete from a shop at Fancy Bazaar in Guwahati for the ritual they had planned. They before moving on to the killed held a puja at the Bhoothnath premise in the presence of 10-12 people including two babas who are yet to be traced.
During the puja, they had a feast with alcohol and meat. The victim had no idea that the puja was being done to sacrifice her later and she was made to drink and eat as well.
Following this, they headed to the Kamakhya Temple on two vans and performed another ritual at the crematorium near the Bogola temple. After which, they came to the Joy Durga Temple steps for the final ritual of their plan.
They had more drinks and meat on the steps. After this, Raju Baba who had a blanket on his back spread it on the steps of the stairway.
He then asked the woman to lie down on it. They then held her limbs and head and before she could make a move to escape, one of them took out the machete and beheaded her.
After this, they left the body and the blanket on the floor while the head was packed into a polyethene bag which the accused claimed to have thrown into the Brahmaputra river.
The police said that the woman used to visit Kamakhya Temple every year during the Ambabuchi Mela.
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Barah added that more persons are being identified who are connected to the case but details would be made public later as the investigation is underway.
He added that the case was reopened after it was among the major murder cases of recent times which was left unsolved for over years.
Diganta Barah who was recently appointed as the commissioner of Guwahati Police has initiated a drive to reopen major murder cases in the city that remained unsolved.
The Kamakhya Temple is one of the most revered temples in India, and the Ambubachi festival is attended by thousands of devotees every year.