Guwahati, March 2: The recovery of a severed head of an unidentified man on the foothills of Nilachal hill, atop which the Kamakhya temple is located, has raised suspicion that it might be a case of human sacrifice.

Police said passers-by informed them after they spotted the decapitated head stuffed in a polythene bag around 7am today.

A team from nearby Jalukbari police station reached the spot and recovered the head, which was later sent to Gauhati Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) for autopsy.

The incident has fuelled speculation that it could be a case of human sacrifice since the Kamakhya temple has a history of such practices.

It is believed that nara bali or human sacrifices were made at the temple till the late 17th century.

The recovery has triggered suspicion among people that somebody may have offered the severed head at the feet of goddess Kamakhya since the temple is located on the Nilachal hill.

The police, however, refused to comment on whether it could be a human sacrifice, saying it was too early to arrive at any such conclusion.

“We are probing all possible angles but the human sacrifice theory does not seem to be convincing,” senior superintendent of police (city) Apurba Jiban Baruah said, adding that it is also possible that the killer(s) may have left the head on the road leading to the temple in a bid to mislead the police. “Our first priority is to ascertain the identity of the victim,” he said.

Baruah said messages have been sent to all the districts to report if they find any decapitated body.

Since no bloodstain was found on the spot or the nearby areas, police suspect that the victim was beheaded somewhere else and then head was dumped at that spot.

According to police, the deceased, who had a thick moustache, appears to be in his mid-thirties. Residents of the area claimed that a paper with religious hymns written on it was found near the head but police denied it. The cops pressed a sniffer dog into action, but it lost the trail after a few steps.

“The sniffer dog lost the track maybe because the killer(s) had left the spot in a vehicle after keeping the severed head there,” an officer of Jalukbari police station said.

“It seemed likely that the murder was committed last night because the blood had congealed,” he said. “We have registered a case under Section 302 IPC in this connection and are investigating the matter but we are yet to get a clue,” he said.

He, however, said the possibility of human sacrifice cannot be ruled out because in June 2003, security staff of Kamakhya temple foiled an attempt made by one Satya Das to slit the throat of his minor daughter Taramai at the temple premises in a bid to “appease” the goddess.

Former deputy director of the state archaeology department Pradip Sarma said human sacrifices were made at Kamakhaya temple till 17th century but the practice died out completely.

“Now, instead of human beings an effigy is used to perform the rituals. The effigy is sacrificed at midnight on Ashtami during Durga Puja,” Sarma told The Telegraph.