Sitapur (Uttar Pradesh), March 31 : The body of a 65-year-old mahant of an ashram in Hardoi district has been found in three pieces in the bushes on Siddhauli Road in Sitapur district, the police said.

The mahant had disappeared under mysterious circumstances around four days ago while completing his annual pilgrimage in Sitapur's Mishrikh.

The deceased's nephew Tai Ram had lodged a missing report with Mishrikh police station after finding his mobile phone unreachable.

Mishrikh Circle Officer, Rajesh Kumar, said preliminary examination of the body suggested that the assailants hacked the mahant to death with a sharp-edged weapon and thereafter cut the body using some other weapon and disposed it of after stuffing it into a jute bag.

He added that the deceased was identified as Mahant Mani Ram Das, of Brahm Rishi Nimiya Baba Ashram in Girdharpur village of Hardoi.

The police official said the body was recovered nearly 200 metre inside the Kesaripur Road when some locals spotted the jute bag after a foul smell pervaded the atmosphere.

He added that spot examination hinted that the mahant was killed somewhere else and later his body was dumped there to mislead the police.

He said the body had been sent for post-mortem examination while forensic team collected some samples for further examination.

/IANS