BENGALURU: Fear gripped Jogara Doddi village in Bidadi after 25 human skulls and two sacks of bones were found inside the farmhouse of a local resident.
A chair and a cot made of skulls and bones on which the suspect would rest whenever he visited the farmhouse created more fear among the people.
On Sunday, which was a new moon day, the suspect was found performing some rituals at a burial ground near his farm. Local residents, who saw it, feared that he was performing black magic and alerted Bidadi police, who reached the spot, searched his house and found the skulls and bones.
Villagers told the police that the black magic rituals were aimed at them. But the suspect is said to have told the police that he was not doing anything wrong and performing the puja on Amavasya (new moon) day was being followed by his family for decades.
‘Accused used skulls to perform rituals’
The skulls and bones found in his farm were collected from burial grounds, he told the police.
The suspect’s farmhouse is close to the Bidadi Industrial Area. The front portion of his property has been reportedly leased to an industry, while the farmhouse is at the rear, where he was performing the rituals. The farmhouse is named Shri Smashana (burial ground) Kali Peeta, adding to the mystery and fear factor. After the search, the police recovered two sacks of bones.
“The suspect, identified as Balram, 30, was detained and is being questioned. He has not yet been arrested. We are checking from where he got the human skulls, though he claims that they were with him for decades. He said he used the skulls to perform some rituals during the new moon (Amavasya) and full moon (Purnima) days. Along with the skulls, we also found hundreds of bones at the farmhouse. He said the farmhouse belonged to his ancestors and he did not want to renovate it as it brought him good fortune,” said an officer, who is part of the investigation.
A team of Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) experts too visited the farmhouse along with the police and collected samples of the skulls and bones for tests. The police are waiting for the FSL report to initiate action against the suspect. The forensic tests will confirm the age, gender and other details of each skull, the police added.