In a case of human sacrifice, an eight-year-old boy was killed allegedly by an occultist at Gokhapada village in Odisha's Kendrapara district.
The mutilated body of Class IV student Rajesh Nayak was found with his neck slit at the Luna riverbed last evening, police said today.
The boy was missing since Monday and a complaint had been lodged in this connection yesterday.
Inspector of Marshaghai Police Station Sukant Kumar Patra quoting the FIR lodged by victim's mother Purnima Nayak said, "The complaint alleged that the boy was last seen with the local 'tantric'. Preliminary investigation indicates possible sacrifice ritual. The neck of the victim was slashed by a sharp weapon".
The occultist named in the FIR has been detained.
Scientific teams and sniffer dogs have been pressed into service as part of the probe, Inspector Patra added.
