Boy sacrificed for hidden treasure in Andhra

A 14-year-old boy was killed by a group of people in the belief that a human sacrifice would yield them a secret treasure in Andhra Pradesh's Nirmal town, police said Thursday.

The police Thursday recovered the body of Ganesh at Shyamgarh Fort on the outskirts of the town in Adilabad district, about 250 km from here. One man, Raju, who reportedly sold the boy for Rs.20,000 to the treasure seekers, has been arrested while eight members of the gang which sacrificed him are yet untraced and on the run, police said.

The boy was sacrificed for the believed-to-be hidden treasure in the fort on Amavasya (new moon night) on the intervening night of Jan 24-25. He was buried in the same area and the police exhumed the body Thursday.

Ganesh was a Class 9 student at a private school, and was lured away with snacks by Raju, the boy's family members alleged. On interrogating, Raju confessed to have sold the boy to a man named Prabhakar.

The angry relatives of the boy blockaded a road, demanding the police take immediate action against all accused. According to locals, several people in the town and other areas in the district believe in hidden treasures and that a human sacrifice would reveal these.