A 65-year-old man was allegedly killed and his torso was burnt in a ‘Holika Dahan’ fire as part of ‘black magic’ rituals in Bihar’s Aurangabad district, a police officer said.

The deceased has been identified as Yugual Yadav (65), he said.

Police have arrested four persons, including a relative of a ‘tantric’, in connection with the incident, the officer said on Friday, adding that the tantric is absconding.

Aurangabad Superintendent of Police (SP) Ambrish Rahul told reporters on Friday, “Madanpur police station on March 13 received a missing complaint about Yugal Yadav, a resident of Gulab Bigha village. A case was registered and a special investigation team was formed by the police to trace him. During the investigation, officials came to know about the discovery of human bones from the ashes of a Holika Dahan fire in the neighbouring village of Banger.” 

Officials inspected the site and found charred human bones and Yugal’s slippers from there.

A dog squad was immediately deployed which took the investigators to the house of Ramashish Rikyasan a ‘tantric. While Ramashish was not present at the house, his relative, Dharmendra, was taken into custody as he gave conflicting statements about the whereabouts of the former, said the SP.

“During interrogation, Dharmendra confessed that he and others had kidnapped and beheaded Yugal as a part of black magic rituals. His torso was then burnt in the Holika Dahan fire. Based on Dharmendra’s statement, police recovered the victim’s severed head from a nearby field,” said the SP.

The official said “Ramashish Rikyasan had conducted the ritual on behalf of Sudhir Paswan, who was seeking a child. Dharmendra also admitted that the group had earlier sacrificed a teenager, whose body was dumped in a well in the same locality.” 

A total of four people, including Sudhir Paswan, Dharmendra and two others, have been arrested, police said. A minor boy has also been taken into custody in connection with the incident, police said.

“Police have seized the weapon of offence and sent the recovered human bones for scientific tests, including DNA examination,” said the SP.

A manhunt has been launched to nab tantric Ramashish Rikyasan, he added.

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