The Nelamangala rural police, on Wednesday, found themselves overseeing the digging of a grave in an effort to assuage angry villagers who were convinced that the burial ground had been desecrated and the body of an elderly man stolen by practitioners of black magic.
A senior police officer said, “We dug up the grave, found the body intact. After family members were convinced, we closed the grave. We are now trying to trace the source of the rumour.”
On January 13, 2019, Arasaiah, a farmer from Byranahalli, died after a prolonged illness. His son and daughter performed his last rites at the burial ground. A few days ago, some villagers noticed that a part of Arasaiah's grave had been dug up. This led to a rumour about someone stealing the body for black magic.
World of the unrest reached the Nelamangala police. At the request of villagers, a team roped in some grave diggers and, along with the family, visited the site only to find that nothing was amiss.
“But the villagers and family members were not convinced. The only way to calm them down was to dig up the grave,” the officer added.
