Belthangady : A temple priest and five others have been arrested pertaining to the murder and destruction of evidence in Dharmasthala police station limits on April 30.

The case relates to death of a daily wage earner Suresh Naik, who was supposed to get married on that fateful day.

The arrested are Ananda, 30, temple priest of Shree Adhishakti Mahamayi Temple; Belthangady, Praveen Naik, resident of Church Road, Belthangady, Vinay Bangera, 30, resident of Charmadi Village; Lokesh Moolya, resident of Pudu village; Prakash, 31, resident of Moodukodi village; Nagaraj, 39, resident of Melanthabettu.

The charred remains of a body was found at Avekki on the Dharmasthala-Patrame Road on April 30.

Superintendent of Police Bhushan Gulabrao Borase said police were completely clueless about the identity of deceased. But a small ‘material evidence’ found on the body gave them a good enough lead through which they traced the murder accused and the identity of the deceased. SP declined to reveal the material evidence which led to the tracing of accused, but police sources said it was a belt buckle, which helped identify the victim and get the accused.

The police learnt the victim was Suresh, 30, resident of Belthangady, who went missing on the day of his wedding on April 30. The body was identified as that of Suresh’s by his uncle Sanjeeva Naik, who had filed a missing complainant about the victim’s disapperance, with the help of material evidence found at the spot.