Three men, including a self-styled tantric, have been arrested in Uttar Pradesh’s Hapur for allegedly tampering with a burning funeral pyre and collecting human remains as part of a superstition-driven ritual. Police said the accused were influenced by an obsession to control a young man’s girlfriend and her family through occult practices.
The incident came to light two days ago after the cremation of a 16-year-old boy, Shubhanshu, who had died following a prolonged illness. After the grieving family completed the last rites and left the cremation ground, three men arrived on a motorcycle and began interfering with the burning pyre. Eyewitnesses raised an alarm, prompting the accused to flee.An investigation based on CCTV footage led to the identification and arrest of the trio. Police said the case originated from a youth named Aman, who sought help from a tantric, identified as Avdhesh Sharma, to gain control over his girlfriend and her family. The tantric allegedly instructed him to bring remains from a burning pyre to perform a ‘vashikaran’ ritual. Acting on this advice, the accused targeted the cremation ground and collected bones from the pyre. During the raid, police recovered suspicious tantric items and over 50 photographs of different individuals, believed to have been used in occult practices.
Station House Officer Neeraj Kumar clarified that the body had already been fully cremated and only some bones were taken, dismissing claims of skull theft. Police are now working to identify the individuals in the photographs and investigate the extent of the racket.