Ambala, Haryana:

Here a shopkeeper was allegedly killed by a woman who said a goddess appeared to her in a dream demanding a human sacrifice.

The body of Mahesh Gupta (44) was found at the house of Priya, whom the police identified as the main accused late on Wednesday evening. The victim was an acquaintance of his who previously worked at his store.

Police on Friday arrested three people for the murder – Priya, her brother Hemant and sister-in-law Preeti.

He said that Mr. Gupta, a resident of Kacha Bazaar Ambala Cantt and owner of a shopping store here, sustained injuries on his legs and behind his ears.

Police said that on questioning the accused, it was found that the shopkeeper was killed as a human sacrifice.

Priya told the police that for the past four to five days, she had been seeing a goddess in her dreams who demanded human sacrifice.

The victim’s brother said in his complaint that Gupta considered Priya as his sister and had gone to deliver some goods from his store to her residence on Wednesday.

When he did not return and did not respond to phone calls, the family searched for him and approached the police.

Later, Gupta’s scooter is spotted near Priya’s house and they learn about the murder.

Mr. Gupta’s brother said that when he and some others knocked on the door of Priya’s house, there was no response.

The complainant said that when they forced open the door, they saw Priya, Preeti and Hemant trying to drag Mr. Gupta who was unconscious and had a scarf tied around his neck.

Mr Gupta was rushed to hospital where he was declared brought dead. The police later reached the spot and registered a case against the three accused.

SHO of Padau Police Station Dilip Kumar said that the accused will be produced in court and efforts will be made to take them into custody to recover some items related to the crime.

(Other than the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)