Boipariguda: A man was killed with the help of an axe today and his wife sustained injuries over alleged sorcery by some co-villagers in Dhanibalasa under Boipariguda police limits of Koraput.

The deceased was identified as Madadev Khara (50) and the injured as Manguli from the village.

Four accused persons have been identified as Hari Khara, Dambaru Khara, Arjun Khara and Adia Khila from Dhanibalasa village in the district.

Acting on an FIR lodged by Manguli, Boipariguda police reached the crime spot and seized the body of Mahadev and launched a probe into the incident, which is underway.

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According to the senior police official, a villager of Dhanibalasa named Balaram Khara died yesterday afternoon. Following this, residents of the village held a meeting before taking his body for cremation. As five persons from the village died in the last five months, the locals suspected Mahadev to have performed witchcraft leading to the untimely deaths. He was called to the meeting.

Later, the locals had heated arguments with Mahadev. Things turned ugly when, in a fit of rage, the four accused persons chased Mahadev to kill him. The victim man tried to escape and ran into his house. However, they could manage to catch hold of Mahadev and axed him to death.

Four accused persons fled from the spot soon after committing the crime. “The culprits will be nabbed soon. The daughter and son-in-law of Mahadev were also injured in the attack,” an official said.