Human sacrifice in Guwahati temple case update: Police cracks case; 5 arrested

The case dates back to 2019 when a headless body of a woman was found at the stairway leading to the Jai Durga temple near Kamakhya Temple of Guwahati

In a big breakthrough in the 2019 sensational ‘murder’ case that occurred in a Guwahati temple close to the much revered Maa Kamakhya temple atop the Nilachal Hills, Guwahati Police today confirmed that it was actually a case of human sacrifice and not a simple case of murder. Five persons including the priest have been arrested.

“The motive, as per our investigations is that Pradip Pathak, a UP government employee who has now been arrested from Mathura, alongwith his Baba (Hindu priest) had planned for human sacrifice to propitiate Goddess Kamakhya and accordingly got in touch with the Baba (Mata Prasad Pandey) in Bengal and after that they identified the victim. They performed the necessary rituals on the intervening night of June 18 & 19 at Bhootnath and after that they resorted to human sacrifice at the Jai Durga temple. There were 12 persons who had performed the Puja and we are ascertaining as to what role did each one of them play,” Guwahati Commissioner of Police, Diganta Barah said without divulging much for the sake of further investigation.

The five arrested are:

1. Mata prasad Pandey alias Mateswar Giri from Madhya Pradesh
2. Suresh Paswan, a resident of Durga Sarovar Hillside under Jalukbari PS, Guwahati
3. Pradip Pathak alias Dinesh alias Raju, who is a state government employee in Uttar Pradesh and arrested from Mathura, UP
4. Kanu Acharjee alias Kanu Tantrtik, now a resident of Fatasil Ambari (Guwahati) performs puja at Bhutnath
5. Raju Baba alias Bhayaram Maworiya

Briefing newspersons, CP Diganta Barah shared details of the incident as well as how the police cracked the case.

Barah said, “a murder case was registered with the Jalukbari PS. The incident took place in June 2019 during the Ambubachi Mela. On the intervening night of June 18 & 19, a headless body of a woman was found at the stairway leading to the Jai Durga temple, just before reaching Kamakhya Temple. When this case came for review, we formed a Special Team and during our month long probe, we received the first clue and our team moved to Cooch Behar and raided a house in a village called Khitolakochi. Upon searching the house, a bag was found with clothes and other items of the victim including her Aadhar card and the train ticket on which she had travelled to Guwahati from Hooghly in West Bengal. The items were seized from the house of Kailash Barman.”

The police official further said, “During interrogation, Kailash Barman informed that every year a Baba (Hindu Priest) visits the village and takes shelter in his home as well as in houses of others also. In 2019, the baba identified as Mata Prasad Pandey alias Mateshwar Giri, when he had returned from here during June-July after the Ambubachi Mela concluded, he had visited Kailash’s house and had handed over the bag saying that he will take it back as and when he visits next.”

After accessing crucial leads, the Assam Police swung into action to nab Mata Prasad Pandey. Sharing details into this, the Guwahati Commissioner of Police said, “Soon we managed to trace him (Mata Prasad Pandey alias Mateshwar Giri). Accordingly, our special team rushed to Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh and managed to arrest Mata Prasad Pandey and brought him back to Guwahati.”

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