Five people arrested in connection with 2019 murder case near Kamakhya Temple

At least five persons have been detained by the Assam Police Crime Branch in connection with a murder case near the Kamakhya Temple in Guwahati in June 2019.

The incident occurred shortly before the Ambubachi Mela in 2019.

The overall number of arrests in the case has now increased to nine, with three of them being made lately.

The victim, a lady, has been identified, and it has been found that she came to the temple by train and prayed before her terrible death.

Speaking to the media Guwahati Commissioner of Police said, "On June 19-June 20, 2019, an incident occurred in Jai Durga Temple steps wherein a woman's body was found without his head which is located near the Kamakhya Temple."

Further upon investigation, the city police failed to gather any information about the deceased, however, asserted it to be a case of murder and following which a case was registered at Jalukbari police station.

As the news about the headless body went viral on social media, a man, Suresh Shaw, from the West Bengal Hooghly district came forward to Guwahati on July 28, 2019, and claimed that his mother (Shanti Shaw) who came to Ambubachi Mela didn't return home and upon the body identification the missing case was closed, however, police were yet to track the accused in the case.

Meanwhile, while reviewing old pending heinous cases, Assam police formed a specail team to track such cases and moved to Cooch Bihar and raid one residence of Kailash Barmam found a bag belonging to the victim Shanti Shaw along with the Asdhar card and the train ticket to Guwahati.

"Upon interrogation, it was found that one Sadhu used to stay at his residence going by the name of Mata Prasad Pandey alias Mateshwar Giri kept the items and following the trail, Assam police reached Jabalpur to catch hold of the tainted Sadhu from a temple," the CP added.

Meanwhile, Assam police based on Mata Prasad Pandey's statement arrested- Suresh Paswan, Kanu Tantrik, Raju Baba alias Bhiaya Ram Mauriya and Pradeep Pathak.

The Sadhu also revealed that the mastermind of the entire incident was Pradeep Pathak (52) from Varanasi in Marthuri who happens to be a government employee.

The apprehended suspects are thought to be from West Bengal. They arrived in June 2019, remained for one day, and then left the next day.

The Kamakhya Temple is one of India's most respected temples, and the Ambubachi festival attracts thousands of pilgrims each year.