A boy studying in Class 2 at a residential school in Uttar Pradesh’s Hathras district was killed by the owners of the institute as part of an alleged human sacrifice, the police said on Friday, The Hindu reported.

The incident took place on September 23 at the DL Public School, located in the Rasgwan village in the Sahapau area, after its owner, Jasodhan Singh, asked his son Dinesh Baghel, who is also the director of the school, to sacrifice a child for the “prosperity” of the institute.

The school had a low number of students enrolled in it, the police said, adding that Singh had also taken a loan to start it.

Five persons, including Jasodhan Singh and Baghel, were arrested for the murder. The three others held were the principal of the school, Laxman Singh, and two teachers named Ramprakash Solanki and Veerpal Singh.

On September 23, the student, identified as nine-year-old Kritarth, was abducted from the hostel in the school by Jasodhan Singh, Baghel and Solanki, Hathras Additional Superintendent of Police Ashok Kumar Singh was quoted as saying by The Hindu.

The boy was taken to a secluded place to be sacrificed, the police officer said. He was strangulated hurriedly after he woke up and began crying, according to the official.

“Another teacher, Veerpal Singh and school principal, Laxman Singh, were also present at the spot and were guarding the place,” the police officer added.

The boy’s father, Krishan Kushwaha, said that Baghel called him at around 5 am on the day and said that his son was not feeling well. “We rushed to the hostel but did find Baghel and our son there,” he said, according to The Indian Express.

Kushwaha added that Baghel subsequently told him that the boy was being taken to Agra.

“We got suspicious and informed the area police,” he said. “We also followed Baghel after asking him to wait. We traced Baghel and found that my son was lying dead in his car.”

Kushwaha filed a first information report at the Sahpau police station, The Indian Express reported.

“We began our investigation after detaining Baghel and talked to several people close to him and his family in the Rasgava village,” the additional superintendent of police said. “We learnt that his father Jasodhan Singh believes in witchcraft and had advised his son to sacrifice a minor boy two months ago but the plan could not be materialised.”

He added: “We interrogated the father and he revealed the truth behind the heinous crime.”

Following the incident, Basic Education Officer (Hathras) Swati Bharti issued an order to shut the school, The Hindu reported. She added the institute did not have the required permissions to run Classes 1 to 8. The hostel was also running illegally, Bharti added.

National Commission for Protection of Child Rights chairperson Priyank Kanungo also said that he had taken cognisance of the matter. A team would visit the area and submit a report on the incident, he added.