Ambala, Haryana:

A shopkeeper was allegedly murdered here by a woman who said a goddess appeared to her in a dream and demanded human sacrifice.

The body of Mahesh Gupta (44) was found at the home of Priya, who police said was the main accused on Wednesday night. The victim knew him and worked at his store.

Police arrested three murderers – Priya, her brother Hemant and sister-in-law Preeti – on Friday.

Gupta, a resident of Kacha Bazaar Ambala Cantt and the owner of a shopping shop here, suffered injuries on his legs and behind his ears, they said.

Police said interrogation of the accused revealed that the shop owner was murdered as a human sacrifice.

Priya told the police that for the past four-five days, a goddess appeared in her dreams and demanded human sacrifices.

The victim’s brother said in his complaint that Gupta considered Priya his sister and had delivered some items from his shop to her residence on Wednesday.

When he didn’t return and didn’t answer calls, the family searched for him and called the police.

They came to know about the murder later when Gupta’s motorcycle was found near Priya’s house.

Mr. Gupta’s brother said that when he and some others knocked on Priya’s door, 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 lying unconscious on the floor with a scarf tied around his neck.

Mr. Gupta was taken to hospital, where he was pronounced dead. The police later reached the spot and registered a case against all three accused.

SHO Dilip Kumar of Padav police station said the accused will appear in court and seek their custody to recover some crime-related items.

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