Tikamgarh, July 6 (PTI) The decapitated body of a 32-year-old man was found near a temple in Madhya Pradesh's Tikamgarh district on Sunday, with police not ruling out the possibility of human sacrifice, an official said.

Sub-inspector Rashmi Jain, in-charge of Chandera police station, told PTI that the deceased was identified as Akhilesh Kushwaha. He had left his home earlier in the day for some work but never returned.

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The official said the incident came to light when a local resident spotted a severed head near a religious platform. “Lemons and coconuts were also recovered from the spot. We cannot rule out ‘narbali' (human sacrifice),” she said.

Efforts are underway to track down those behind the murder and ascertain the motive behind the crime, the official said.

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An FIR has been registered under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita section 103(1), which concerns murder based on discriminatory grounds, the offcial added.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)