Man axed to death for suspected black magic

Sambalpur, Sep 24:
A 63-year-old man was murdered and his wife injured on Monday after being attacked with axe for suspected sorcery.
The incident took place in Tamparkela under Sason police limit of Sambalpur district, around 25 km away from here. The deceased has been identified as Fakira Charan Dash. Fakira’s wife Alladini Dash has sustained severe injuries in this incident, police said.
She has been admitted to Veer Surendra Sai Medical College Hospital at Burla. The deceased is a retired employee of Western Electricity Supply Company (WESCO).
Police have arrested two persons in this connection.
The accused persons arrested in this connection are Girigobardhan Guru and his elder brother Dhuba Guru. Girigobardhana Guru is a teacher of a TRW school near Belpahar.
Girigobarhan’s 13-year-old daughter had lost her eyesight due to some eye ailment around six months ago. The family had consulted several doctors and gone to several hospitals for the treatment of the girl. However, they had failed to cure her. This led them to suspect that the blindness could be because of black magic.
They suspected that Fakira’s wife Alladini Dash was performing black magic. The suspicion led Girigobardhan and his brother Dhuba to hatch a conspiracy to kill Alladini.
They attacked Alladini with axe while she was going to pluck flowers in the morning. However, Fakira rushed to the place and tried to save his wife, Alladini. But the duo attacked Fakira, who died on the spot. The duo fled the spot after killing Fakira.
Fakira’s daughter-in-law Puspanjali Dash said, “Two persons attacked my mother in law, Alladini Dash with axe. My father-in-law had rushed to the spot to save her and got killed.”
The officer in charge of Sason police station, B K Pradhan said, “The main accused persons in the incident have already been arrested. They have confessed to their involvement in the incident. However, the investigation is still on. We have also seized the weapon, which was used in the attack.”(PTI)