Three arrested for sadhvi's murder in UP's Muzaffarnagar

Three persons were arrested in connection with the murder of a 35-year-old sadhvi, whose body was found in a field last week, in Uttar Pradesh's Muzaffarnagar district on Tuesday, police said.

The accused -- Baba Kapas Nath, Manjit and Umesh -- were arrested from Bhokarhedi village under Bhopa police station, they said.

During interrogation, the accused confessed to have killed Sadhvi Sunita Nath. They told police that the murder was planned by a Mahant Shankerdas of Sikander Ashram who was embroiled in a property dispute with her, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Abhishek Yadav said.

Mahant Shankerdas, and his friend and another accused Manoj Kumar are absconding. A police team is on the lookout for them, he said.

Nath's naked body was found in a sugarcane field in Bhokarhedi village on November 21, the police said.

According to the post mortem report, she was strangulated to death.

In another incident, two persons were arrested from Muzaffarnagar's Rahekda village for allegedly killing an occultist, Gautam Das, earlier this month.

The accused have been identified as Ankit and Jagmer, the police said.

Das was strangulated to death over a money dispute on November 14, SSP Yadav said.