In a horrifying incident, the body of man, who was reported missing for almost past two months, was found chopped into pieces in a sack from a drain in Madhya Pradesh’s Jabalpur, police said on Wednesday.

According to the police, the deceased victim, identified as Anupam Sharma—a resident of Gadarwara in Madhya Pradesh’s Narsinghpur district— had been reported missing for the past 52 days and his family had filed a missing complaint at Sanjeevani Nagar Police Station in Jabalpur on February 16 after Anupam hadn’t returned home.

On Tuesday, Anupam’s body was found chopped into pieces in a sack which was dumped by the accused in a drain in Sanjeevani Nagar area, the police said.

Giving details, a senior official said the accused, identified as Tony Verma, was a friend of the victim as both of them worked together in the stock market.

He said that Verma, the prime accused who reportedly died by suicide after the murder, allegedly killed his friend Anupam over some dispute over monetary transaction and later sawed the victim’s body into several pieces, filled the chopped parts into a sack and dumped it down the sewer in an attempt to destroy evidence.

The official said that Verma and his accomplice, Ram Prakash Poonia—who has now been arrested—strangled Sharma and then chopped his body into pieces with a machine saw.

According to the police, Tony Verma allegedly committed suicide, days after the murder.

An official said the police has registered a case of murder in this regard under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and further investigation is underway.

He said that Poonia is currently being interrogated to ascertain the exact motive behind the murder and the mysterious suicide of his accomplice Tony Verma, days after the murder, adding that Verma’s suicide is also being probed.

Unidentified “miscreants” allegedly manhandled and assaulted two church elders from Meghalaya in Bihar capital Patna, police said on Tuesday.

According to the police, two elders of the Presbyterian Church were reportedly intercepted by a group of unidentified people and manhandled.

A senior police official said a police team was immediately rushed to the spot as soon as they received information about the incident, and asked the church workers to identify the assailants.

Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), Patna Rajeev Mishra said in a statement that the incident was reported from Alamgang area of the city where two church elders were reportedly manhandled by “miscreants”.

The officer said that the duo however, refused to register an FIR against their attackers and instead asked to go back to Meghalaya.

SSP Mishra said the church workers have left for their native land and “would be provided security till the last point of their journey.”

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Condemning the incident, Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma said he has directed the state police to get in touch with their Bihar counterparts and register a case against the miscreants.

Sangma wrote on Twitter: “Condemn the incident in Bihar where our elders from the Presbyterian Church were manhandled by miscreants. Instructed Meg Police to be in touch with Bihar police who are helping our elders, their statements are being taken to file FIR against those miscreants (sic).”

Meghalaya Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong said the church leaders are safe and are returning home to Shillong, adding that the matter has been resolved.

Tynsong said he contacted Director General of Police (DGP) LR Bishnoi as soon as he received information about the incident and then got in touch with Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to ensure that the church elders are safe.

Giving details, Tynsong said the Pastor and the church senior had gone to their mission field office on the outskirts of Patna where they were engaged in a heated argument with some locals.

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Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday said if India was being nasty to Muslims as claimed by some people would the population of Muslims be increasing in the country. Speaking at think tank Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington DC, Sitharaman said unlike Pakistan where all minorities have been systematically depleted by State policy, Muslims in India continue to prosper and grow with State support.

Replying to the question on violence against Muslims in the country and the negative perception of the West about India, Sitharaman said India has second largest Muslim population in the world (after Indonesia) and that the population is also increasing.

She said that if it is reality or just a perception that their lives are difficult or is made difficult by the government which is what is said by write-ups that are usually published in the West, she compared the situation with Pakistan. Sitharaman then asked if the Muslim population would be growing at such scale, higher than before Partition if things were as reported in the West.

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Sitharaman said minorities are being killed in Pakistan and it includes even some Muslim sects (especially the Ahmadiyyas) but in India, Muslims can be found doing their own business, with their children getting good education along with fellowships.

The Finance Minister invited people to visit India and look at the ground situation rather than believe vague perceptions.

Nirmala Sitharaman spoke on the revival of the Indian economy after Covid. She said it was the Indian economy’s strong fundamentals that despite the tragedy of the pandemic, entrepreneurs took the challenge and stepped out of their homes to do their .

Apart from the event, Sitharaman attended a round-table hosted by the Confederation of Indian Industry & US-India Business Council in the US Chamber, Washington DC which included leaders of business houses and investors.

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