India, Dec. 11 -- Three men died under mysterious circumstances during a black magic ritual by a tantrik in Chhattisgarh's Korba district, police said on Thursday.

Five people, including the tantrik, have been detained in connection with the deaths, police said.

Police have identified the deceased as Mohammad Ashraf Memon, a scrap dealer, and Suresh Sahu, both from Korba, and Nitish Kumar from Durg. The three were in their early forties and were at Memon's house in the district's Kudri village under Urga police station limits.

Korba superintendent of police (SP) Siddharth Tiwari said investigators had seized Rs.5 lakh cash from the spot along with material that indicates "some kind of occult ritual was going on".

Tiwari said the victi...