Moradabad: Two persons were found dead in a cremation ground in the Thakurdwara area of Moradabad district of Uttar Pradesh on Monday.
The deceased have been identified as Rajendra Giri,40, a mahant at the Holika temple in Thakurdwara and Nitesh,35, a resident of the Jhandavala village.
The police suspect that the two were hit on the head with a heavy object on the Diwali night.
Superintendent of Police (SP) Uday Shankar Singh said: “A Tantrik practice may be behind the killings, but we need to collect more evidence to reach the conclusion.”
A dog squad and forensic experts were brought to the site of the incident.
Vishal Yadav, area circle officer of Thakurdwara, said: “A couple of empty liquor bottles and wrappers of snacks were found at the crime scene, suggesting that the assailants were quite close to the slain persons.”
According to him, the evidence collected from the crime scene suggests that both men were brutally killed after being hit on the head by some heavy objects. They were possibly in an inebriated condition and could not resist the assailants, who could be two or more.
The SP said that the information is being collected about the people who frequently visited the deceased.