Balangir/Deogaon: A 40-year-old man was beheaded in a suspected human sacrifice in Balangir district, police said Thursday. Santosh Kharsel, of Teparamunda village under Tusura police limits, was identified as the victim.
Deogaon police registered case (161/2026) and arrested the primary suspect, Shatrughna Sahu, 40, of Bagada village under Deogaon police limits. The incident came to light Thursday morning after residents spotted a headless body floating in a pond at Bagada.
Police and fire service personnel recovered the torso and launched a probe during which police learned that Kharsel had been reported missing. The recovered body was subsequently identified as his. Locals reported seeing Kharsel and Sahu together.
During police interrogation, Sahu allegedly confessed to killing Kharsel three days earlier after consuming alcohol, severing his head, burying it inside his house, and throwing the torso into the nearby pond. Sahu led officers to a darkened room in his house, where police recovered the severed head buried under the floor alongside various ritual items.
A forensic scientific team formally identified the remains. SDPO Saroj Upadhyaya confirmed Sahu’s arrest. Locals and Kharsel’s family suspect a human ritual sacrifice.
