Maharashtra: Sadhu among two found dead in Nanded, follower arrested

The Nanded police, said a villager and a follower of the sadhu, identified as Sainath Langote, was behind the two murders.

Two persons, including a sadhu, were found murdered in Nanded district in the early hours of Sunday.

The police said the sadhu, Swami Shivacharya Rudra (33) of Pashupati Math in Nanded, was found murdered in the mutt, while the body of Bhagwan Shinde (50) – an alleged collaborator of the defendant was found in a nearby zilla parishad school.

Officers said a local villager and a follower of the sadhu – Sainath Langote (25) – was behind the two murders and prima facie evidence that the motive for the murder was theft. Langote had a case of murder and sexual abuse registered against him in the past.

Nanded SP Vijaykumar Magar said that the incident took place at around 3 in the morning on Sunday, when Langote was the mutt with the intent to steal. The main door was open and the sadhu was resting in his private room, which only has one layer of wood of the barrier that separates him from the main room.

“We suspect Langote had jumped over the barrier to gain entry, due to that the sadhu must have woken up. We found the chili powder in the room, so he must have left it in the sadhu’s eyes. The room was completely messed up and there are marks on the walls, indicating that the deceased resisited the attack. Finally, Langote strangled him to death with a rope,” Magar said.

“Langote, then took a laptop computer, Rs 71,000 in cash, and other valuables in the room. He also dragged the sadhu’s body to the last of the four wheels to get rid of it. However, the vehicle crashed against the door of the ashram and some of the sadhu’s followers saw him. The suspicion that Langote was the theft of four wheels,” Magar said.

“As the car was closed, the fans smashed the windows and saw the body, along with the laptop and other valuables,” he added. By then, Langote had fled from the penalty spot in the theft of a bike. “Langote after he was arrested from the Telangana border,” the official said.

Within some time, the police came to know about the body of another person, Bhagwan Shinde, being found in the bathroom of a zilla parishad school near the Mathematics.

“Shinde was seen moving around with Langote since Saturday morning. We suspect that Langote wanted to Shinde, to accompany him to rob the sadhu. However, when Shinde refused, he was murdered. Prima facie, the motive behind the two murders is robbery,” Magar said.

He added that nearly 10 years ago, Langote and his father had been arrested in connection with a murder case. “Even 15 days ago, there was a case of sexual abuse registered against Langote,” Magar said, adding that Shinde has no criminal record.

Last month, three persons, including two sadhus, were lynched on the rumours of child lifting in Palghar district. More than 100 people were arrested in the case and the district superintendent of police, was sent on forced leave.

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