A few days later, a doctor who was visiting the Ghol Ganapati temple near Kalyan shilphata found her body and alerted the cops. Further probe revealed that Mhatre had gone to the temple alone on June 6 when the sadhus found her.

We suspect the three ascetics tried to sexually assault her but she resisted and thus they killed her, said a police official and added that the incident happened when the head ascetic was on a pilgrimage to Ayodhya and had left the temple in the care of the three accused. 

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Mhatre was one of the frequent visitors of the temple, however, seeing her alone, the accused might have tried to make a move, the official suggested. 

The police found CCTV footage of Mhatre entering the temple but not of her leaving which led them to suspect that one of the residents might have killed her.

"After gathering technical details and evidence from the spot, we arrested the sadhus, aged 62, 54, and 28. They were presented before a court, where they were remanded to police custody until July 16. The police suspect that Mhatre was killed after she retaliated against her attackers when they tried to abuse her," said a police officer. 

The police plan to interrogate suspects further during their custody to gain clarity over the motive of the murder and to ascertain whether there were any other accessories to the murder.