Odisha witch doctor arrested in Rayagada beheading case

Odisha Sun Times Bureau
Rayagada, Aug 22:

A day after two persons were arrested in the case, police today arrested one more person for allegedly abetting the killing of two villagers of Nathma in Odisha’s Rayagada district in the wee hours on Thursday for allegedly practising sorcery.

The Rayagada police arrested the accused, identified as Kodandadhara Sahoo this morning. With this, the number of persons arrested in the case has gone up to three. Two more accused in the case are still at large, police said.

According to reports, the witch doctor—Kodandadhara Sahoo—had advised Niranjan Meleka and Melesi Minieka to behead the duo, who were accused of practising sorcery, and also chop off their genitals. Sahoo had insisted that they should burn the severed organs as the dead could come back to life if they did not do that.

Niranjan Meleka, who had taken the lead in killing Apadu Melaka and Litika Pidika, had consulted Sahoo after his son had died of an unknown disease a few months ago and his wife had fallen severely ill recently.

Sahoo reportedly told Meleka that these two persons of his village were responsible for his miseries.

Acting on the advice of Sahoo, Niranjan and Melesi hacked the duo to death and dumped the headless bodies in the Salingi forest, two kms away from the village. The heads and genitals of the deceased had been burnt a short distance away from the place where the bodies had been buried.

It may be mentioned that Apadu Melaka and Litika Pidika had gone missing after some villagers barged into their house on Wednesday midnight and assaulted them. Soon after, they were dragged along the village road with their hands tied. Since then, the fate of the missing duo was unknown till their headless bodies were recovered yesterday morning.