Mumbai:
A 19-year-old priest was found strangled in the Ved Patshala building at South Indian Education Society (SIES) College, Nerul yesterday morning. According to the police, the roommate of the priest discovered his body and informed the college authorities. The police have registered a murder case, and investigations are underway.
Abhinay Sharma was employed as a priest in the Kamakshi temple located on the SIES campus. He shared his apartment with his friend, Vaidyanathan Aiyyer Krushna Murthi (45), a cook employed in the SIES canteen.
On Sunday night, Murthi went to sleep while Sharma was chatting with other friends late in the night. The next morning, another priest came to Sharma'a house and Murthi opened the door. When he went to wake Sharma up, he found him unconscious.
"Murthi then informed SIES authorities who made a phone call to us. A team rushed to the spot and sent the body for postmortem. The reports have confirmed that Sharma was strangulated with a rope as there were ligature marks around his neck," said Rajkumar Chafekar, senior inspector of Nerul police station.
Police are now interrogating the deceased's neighbours and his roommate Murthi to get more leads in the case.