3 men were arrested for cheating an Uthamapalayam resident by saying they were doing a puja using human organs.
Published Aug 05, 2023 | 9:52 PM ⚊ Updated Aug 05, 2023 | 9:52 PM
Suspecting human sacrifice, the higher officials were alerted and the police took the detainees for further investigation.
It was a routine night vehicle inspection for the Uthamapalayam Police until they flagged down a Mahindra Scorpio in Tamil Nadu’s Theni district, bordering Kerala, on Friday, 4 August,
Three persons in the SUV claimed that they were returning to Vandiperiyar in Kerala’s Idukki district.
On inspecting the vehicle, the police found entrails — heart, spleen, and tongue — in three separate containers. The organs, the police said later, looked as if they were used in some occult ritual.
Suspecting human sacrifice, the patrol team alerted senior officers and detained the three men for further investigation. Though the men claimed that the organs were not from a human, the police sent them for forensic tests,
The trio, Alex Pandian of Vadipatti, David Prathap Singh of Kamudi, and Murugan of Pasumpon — all in Tamil Nadu — claimed they procured the organs from a mutton shop. The police later recorded their arrest on charges of cheating.
If the arrested trio’s version is to be believed, they had cheated an Uthamapalayam resident, identified only as James, of ₹2.5 lakh.
The men told the police that they had convinced James that conducting a puja using human organs at home would bring him wealth and prosperity. They also charged James ₹2.5 lakh for conducting the puja. They also confessed that they had performed the puja at James’s residence.
They reportedly made James believe that they had arranged the “human organs” from Vandiperiyar.
“It is prima facie a case of cheating. But we are taking no chances. We have sent the organs for forensic analysis. The accused men said that they had purchased the organs of a goat, from a mutton shop,” Theni Superintendent of Police Dongare Pravin Umesh told South First.
The officer added that the men have been remanded in custody.
Incidentally, two cases of human sacrifices were reported from Elanthoor in Kerala’s Pathanamthitta district in October 2022. Two women — lottery vendors Padma and Roslyn — were tortured to death on the pretext of conducting a ritual. It also involved cannibalism.
Three people, Muhammed Shafi, Bhagal Singh, and his wife Laila were arrested on charges of kidnap, rape, and murder. The murders were committed between June and September 2022.
Shafi reportedly convinced Singh and Laila that the human sacrifice would make them rich. The man allegedly had also engaged in an intimate relationship with Laila in her husband’s presence as part of the occult practice.
The first charge sheet in the case was filed in January this year.
