Guwahati: No arrest could be made so far in connection with Wednesday’s recovery of the headless body of a woman near the Kamakhya temple on Nilachal Hills in Guwahati even as the police sniffed it to be a case of human sacrifice.
Asked about the case, Guwahati Police Commissioner Deepak Kumar told journalists on Thursday, “The murder was committed due to superstitious beliefs”. He, however, did not say where the woman was murdered.
READ MORE | Woman’s headless body found near Assam's Kamakhya temple
The body, which was sent for post-mortem on Wednesday night, was yet to be identified. The police said their investigation was on.
The Kamakhya temple authorities denied human sacrifice at the historic temple.
“We suspect it to be the handwork of miscreants to malign the reputation of Kamakhya temple ahead of four-day Ambubachi Mela which is beginning on Saturday. Only male buffaloes and male goats are sacrificed at the temple,” they clarified.
The body of the woman was recovered on the stairs which lead to a Durga temple on the hills. This route is seldom used by devotees of goddess Kamakhya. Flowers, incense sticks and other items used during prayers were found near the body.
The incident raised questions about the temple’s security given that hundreds of CCTV cameras are installed around the temple premises while scores of police personnel deployed there in view of Ambubachi Mela. Thousands of devotees, including foreign tourists and researchers, from all over the world throng the temple every year during the Mela.