Three people were arrested on Wednesday in connection with the alleged murder of two sadhus whose bodies were found buried in a forest near Haridwar’s Pathreshwar Mahadev temple in Pathri area, police said.
The accused have been identified as Ankur Giri (42) alias Akhil Giri and Ashu Saini (37), both residents of Haridwar, and Ram Milan (38), a resident of Karnal in Haryana.
According to Haridwar senior superintendent of police Navneet Singh Bhullar, a joint police team arrested the three from the Katha Peer forest following intelligence inputs and digital and electronic surveillance.
The two deceased sadhus Paras Giri and Sewa Giri aspired to occupy the position of temple’s spiritual head, which reportedly caused concern to the temple priest Akhil Giri , who allegedly conspired with the other two accused to eliminate the sadhus.
The three accused allegedly attacked Paras Giri and Sewa Giri with sharp-edged weapons on the night of July 18 while the two were sleeping, police said.
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After allegedly killing the two sadhus, the accused buried their bodies in a nearby forest, police said. They allegedly burnt clothes and bloodstained mattresses in an attempt to destroy evidence and conceal their involvement in the crime, police said.
The accused then fled the area and threatened a temple staff member, Uttam Jha, asking him to leave the premises and warning him against informing the police about the disappearance of the two sadhus.
The case came to light after the bodies of the two sadhus were found buried near the temple, following which police launched an investigation.
A joint team of the local police and the Special Task Force subsequently conducted searches and used digital and electronic surveillance to track the suspects.
Police have recovered two shovels, allegedly used in the murder and subsequent burial of the bodies, SSP Bhullar said. Further investigation is underway to establish the sequence of events leading up to the murders and to gather additional evidence in the case.
