Ananthapur: A gang of searching treasure in ancient and historical forts, temples and buildings killed three persons in an ancient temple of Shiva and offered “Rakthabhisekham” to the Shiva lingam.

   As per the police sources the treasure hunters killed three persons on Monday early hours at Korthikota village under Thanakal Mandal in Ananthapur district. The three victims were identified as Shiva Ram Reddy, a retired inspector at an ITI college, his wife Kamalamma (70) and his sister Satya Laxmi (70).

   The ITI inspector Shiva Ram Reddy was working as renovate the centuries old Shivalingam on the outskirts of Korthikota, soon after his retirement. These three used to spend most of their time at the temple. His sister Satya Laxmi who is a residence of Bengaluru came to support her brother in renovation effort.

    The trio was sleeping in the temple on Sunday night, when alleged treasure hunters attacked them. The gang reportedly slit the throats of Shiva Ram Reddy, Kamalamma and Satya Laxmi and collected their blood in vessels. The blood was offered as “Rakthabhisekham” to the Shivalingam in the temple and sneered around the temple premises.

   It is suspected that the gang preformed the sacrifice before they began hunting for the treasure.