In a brutal killing, the throat of a youth was slit in Ayodhya district late on Saturday night.
According to reports, the youth appeared to have been murdered while he was sleeping at the Hanuman temple close to his home.
The authorities are investigating the circumstances surrounding the murder.
The deceased, who was living at the home of his maternal uncle, Shivnarayan, for around two months, was reportedly a native of Shivratanganj in Amethi.
"The body of the youth, with his throat slit, was found inside the Hanuman temple premises in Bhuapur village. The victim was identified as Pankaj Shukla.
Sources said that Pankaj Shukla was living with his maternal uncle for the last two months and he always slept in the Hanuman temple in front of the house. Even on Saturday evening, he went to the temple after having food. When people woke up on Sunday morning, they saw that Pankaj Shukla was dead and blood was splattered all over the temple.
According to sources, the deceased was having a land related dispute with his family members and he often went to court with his mother. The other members of his family live in Mumbai.
The police are investigating this incident from all angles. The police have also done videography of the spot.
“The body was sent for autopsy and an FIR was registered. Investigation is underway," said Satyendra Bhushan, Circle Officer of Milakpur, Ayodhya.
Meanwhile, a 21-year-old law student in Meerut was allegedly killed by his gay friends. The deceased, identified as Yash Rastogi, was strangled and stabbed to death. His friends, identified as Salman, Shahvez, Alizaan and Imran, involved in the killing were arrested, police said on Sunday.
According to reports, Yash Rastogi was brutally murdered before the accused cut his body into pieces and disposed of in the sewer. After the incident came to light, the police recovered Rastogi's body from Pilokhari drain in Lisadigate on Saturday night. During interrogation, the accused told cops that they also committed a misdemeanor before killing Rastogi.
Meerut’s Superintendent of Police (City) Vineet Bhatnagar said the four accused were a gang of gay youths. The deceased was a resident of Sector-6 of Jagriti Vihar under Medical police station.
Yash Rastogi, who was studying law, left his house on a scooter on the evening of June 26, 2022. While leaving he told his family that he would return home soon but when he did not return, the family approached the police and filed a complaint. Following this, the police traced the mobile location and checked Rastogi's call details record (CDR). Based on this, the police detained his friends.
The four accused tried to mislead the police and said that they had no information about Yash Rastogi's whereabouts. However, during rigorous interrogation, they spilled the beans and said that they wanted to check his phone as they suspected that he had made some obscene video of them.
The accused confessed that they strangled Yash to death and also stabbed him in his arms and legs with a knife. One of the accused, identified as Shahvez, claimed to have a homosexual relationship with the deceased.
A police officer said that after killing Yash Rastogi, the accused cut his body into several pieces and filled the pieces in a sack and threw it in a drain.
A police officer privy to the investigation said that a cloth was stuffed in Yash Rastogi's mouth at the time of the murder. Officials said that two accused committed the murder, while the other two assisted in disposing of the body.
Only after the post-mortem report was out, the real reason for the murder would be known, an officer said.
In its official statement, Meerut police said, "Yash Rastogi had gone on his scooty. On the information of its disappearance, a case was registered by the Medical police station. Three arrests have been made with the help of CCTV footage and surveillance. It has been told by the accused that due to blackmailing and relations, he was murdered and the dead body was dumped. Strict action will be taken against the accused.”