Four of family murdered in Odisha’s Balasore

Odisha Sun Times Bureau
Balasore, Jan 28:

In a barbaric act, four persons of a family, including a woman and a girl, were reportedly murdered with sharp weapons by unidentified miscreants at Paganai village under Sadar police limits in Balasore district of Odisha last night.

The deceased were identified as Pratibha Mandal, wife of Satyaranjan Mandal who works outside; their son Sujan Mandal (14); daughter Suman Mandal (18) and their relative’s son Bharat Majhi (14).

According to reports, villagers spotted the beheaded body of Pratibha this morning with her head lying 200 metres away from her house.

On being informed by locals about the incident, police recahed the spot along with scientific team and dog squad and started investigation.

Police have seized one sword, one chopper, a lathi and a live bullet from the spot, sources said.

Though the reason behind the murder was yet to be ascertained, police suspect that land dispute might have led to the killings.

“Sharp objects such as sword and chopper were used to kill them. The villagers had heard the sound of firing and we have also seized live bullet from the spot,” said SDPO Amaresh Panda.

“Investigation into the matter is on and a clear picture of the incident will come to fore after the probe,” he added.