ONGOLE:
In a sensational case, the Chirala police on Sunday arrested 12 persons
for allegedly making a human sacrifice in their bid to find a treasure
and buried a man in a 12-foot deep pit in the house of a weaver at Amodagiripatnam
in Vetapalem mandal of Prakasam district.
Police
exhumed the body of the victim, 32-year-old A. Srinivasa Rao, a weaver
from the same village, from the pit and sent it for post-mortem. The
accused persons admitted that they dug the pit in their bid to find
a treasure in their house but maintained that Srinivasa Rao, who was
digging the pit, fell into it accidentally and died.
Police
registered a case against the accused under Section 302 (murder) and
201 (screening of evidence) and said they would be produced in a court
on Monday. It is stated that Srinivasa Rao had been missing since December
10 last year and his wife lodged a complaint with the police 10 days
later. Police took up the investigation and after making painstaking
efforts achieved the breakthrough in the case on Sunday.
It all
happened in the house of one Dogiparthi Subramanyam (50), a weaver,
in Amodagiripatnam village. When his eldest son died two years ago,
the superstitious Subramanyam contacted some soothsayers who told him
that there was a hidden treasure in his house.
He contacted
the in-laws of his daughter at Kovvur in Nellore district who arranged
the services of one Santamma to help him in the endeavour. Santamma
arrived on the scene with four of her followers and began conducting
poojas in his house from December 9. The police during their investigation
called Subramanyam, his wife and son for interrogation to Vetapalem
four or five times on suspicion of their involvement in the missing
case. Even as the police were waiting for an opportunity, Subramanyam’s
daughter and son-in-law came from Nellore. When the police took them
into custody and interrogated them they spilled the beans. The police
arrested all the accused who admitted that they made attempts to unearth
the treasure to escape from evil forces. |