Uttar Pradesh: Blood-soaked body of man with slit throat found in temple in Ayodhya, one arrested

New Delhi: A body covered with blood was found on the premises of a Hanuman temple in Uttar Pradesh’s Ayodhya, the police said on Sunday (July 3). The incident took place late on Saturday night in Bhuapur village under Kumar Ganj police station area, PTI cited UP police as saying. The 30-year-old man identified as Pankaj Shukla had gone to a temple near his house for sleeping after dinner.

His family went out to search for him after he did not return the next day and found Pankaj’s body in a pool of blood with his throat slit with a sharp-edged weapon, the UP police said. 

Notably, within hours since the murder came to light, the police have claimed to have solved the case by arresting Pankaj’s cousin Gullu Mishra.

According to Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Shailesh Pandey, the accused named Gullu Mishra was the son of Shukla's maternal uncle. “They both had some argument in the night following which Mishra, in a fit of rage, killed the latter with a sharp-edged weapon. Police have recovered the axe with which the accused committed the murder,” the SSP told PTI. 

Satyendra Bhushan, a Circle officer in Ayodhya, said that the victim used to sleep in the temple sometimes, adding that the post-mortem was being done. An FIR has been registered and an investigation is underway, Bhushan added.

(With agency inputs)