Kochi: Two women were abducted, killed and dismembered in Kerala for a black magic ritual purported to bring economic prosperity to those invoking it, police said.

The details of this strange case unfolded during a police investigation to trace one of the two women - 52-year-old Padmam, who was a resident of Cemetery Junction, Elamkulam.

The other victim is Rosly, a native of Vazhani, Vadakancherry. She was living with her partner at Kalady in a rented house.

A lottery ticket seller, Padmam had been missing since September 26. Her son lodged a case at Kadavanthra station when he did not receive a phone call from her for days.

Tracing her mobile signal, the police learned that her last known location was Thiruvalla in Pathanamthitta district. Here, after a thorough search, they found her dismembered body.

Shafi, a resident of SRM Road in Kochi, was taken into custody in connection with the case. It is then that the mysterious nature of the death was revealed.

Shafi had put up a social media post half a year ago urging people to contact him if they required a puja (ritual) to be performed for wealth and prosperity.

Thiruvalla natives Bhagval Singh and his wife Laila contacted him after seeing this ad.

Shafi convinced them that human sacrifice was the only solution to their many problems and sought money from the couple.

Then, six months ago, he lured 50-year-old Rosly, a lottery agent from Kalady, to the couple's house in Thiruvalla and murdered her.

"During our investigation regarding the missing woman from Kadavanthara, we came to know that she was killed in that couple's house in Thiruvalla and her body was buried after being cut into pieces there. It was a human sacrifice for the financial benefit of that couple," Kochi City Police Commissioner Nagaraju Chakilam.

The two women's throats were slit and their body parts cut into pieces before burying it in two different locations in Thiruvalla in Pathanamthitta district, police said quoting the accused.

Driven by the fact that the trio had tactfully gotten away with murder, Shafi approached the couple again to suggest that they should sacrifice another person.

This time, he lured Padmam. Like Rosly, she too was beheaded and her dismembered body buried in the couple's backyard.

The Police and Revenue Department officials have exhumed both bodies for further examination.

The three accused are also being interrogated to find more details of the case.