The body of a 65-year-old mahant from an ashram in Uttar Pradesh's Hardoi district has been found in three pieces in the bushes on Siddhauli Road in Sitapur district, said the police according to an IANS report.
The cleric had disappeared under mysterious circumstances after he completed his annual pilgrimage in Sitapur's Mishrikh. As his phone went unreachable, the mahant's nephew, Tai Ram lodged a missing person's report at the Mishrikh police station.
According to Mishrikh Circle Officer, Rajesh Kumar, the preliminary examination of the body suggested that the assailants had hacked the mahant to death with a sharp-edged weapon and then cut the body with some other weapon.
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The assailants disposed of the body after stuffing it in a jute bag, Kumar added.
The deceased was identified as Mahant Mani Ram Das , of Brahm Rishi Nimiya Baba Ashram in Girdharpur village of Hardoi, Kumar said.
As per the police official, the mahant's body was recovered nearly 200 metre inside the Kesaripur Road after some locals spotted the jute bag which contained foul smell that pervaded in the atmosphere.
Kumar said that spot examination suggested that the mahant was killed somewhere else but his body was later dumped there to mislead the police, adding that the body has been sent for the post-mortem examination and the forensic team has collected samples for further investigation.
Another police official said that the Mahant's nephew had last talked to the deceased on March 24, as per a Hindustan Times report.
The mahant had informed that he was on the verge of completing ‘Mishrik Panchkosi Parikrama’ after completing 84 Kosi Parikrama and would return home by the evening.
But the deceased did not return at the said time and his phone also went unreachable when his nephew tried to contact him.