The Nagpur district police have arrested six persons in connection with a child sacrifice in Wardha on November 8. While the main accused, Asif Shah alias Munna Pathan, who had abducted the son of an acquaintance, killed him and ate his body parts to acquire “special powers” to recover “hidden treasures”, was nabbed on Friday, the Wardha police Sunday arrested five more persons who had allegedly encouraged Pathan to carry out the act.

Superintendent of Police Anil Paraskar told The Indian Express that Pathan, an autorickshaw driver, abducted 9-year old Rupesh Hiraman Mule, a Class IV student, from the Wadar Vasti area in Wardha on November 8 and took him to a secluded area where he choked him to death. The accused then allegedly removed his eyes and kidneys and took them to a remote Hanuman temple outside the city where he cooked the body parts and ate “before performing a puja”.

While the child remained missing, the police had been clueless for about a week, before an eyewitness told them that he had seen the boy with Pathan. During questioning, Pathan confessed to having killed the boy. “He said he did it to acquire special powers to recover hidden treasure. He said he needed the special power to prevent the ghosts from loosening their hold on the treasure so he could recover it,” Paraskar said.

According to the police, Pathan, 40, a father of three, was known to the boy’s father as he used to frequent the area where the Mule family lived. “People also knew he was a mantrik and that he was doing black magic to recover treasures,” said the SP. The Mules have one more son and a daughter.

The five persons arrested on Sunday are Uttam Pohane, Ankush Giri, Suresh Dhanore, Dilip Bhoge and Dilip Khamkar. They have been remanded in police custody till November 20. The police said the five had been in touch with Pathan for the past one month and had encouraged him to kill the boy saying human sacrifice was necessary to be able to recover a hidden treasure. “They had even taken him to a place to recover the hidden treasure,” said Paraskar.

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