Five persons, including a Panchayat Samithi member, were arrested in the Bandhugaon block of Odisha’s Koraput district on charges of murdering a person. They superstitiously believed that the victim was a practitioner of sorcery.
The victim was Mangudu Huluka of the K. Gulumiguda village. According to the complaint filed by the victim’s son before the police, he had been murdered on January 29 near the Jaguguda village. His attackers had blamed the victim of causing ailments and deaths through his witchcraft.
Police investigation
The body of the deceased was not found as the assailants had burnt it down to destroy evidence. On Monday, the police reached the spot where the body had been burnt down, to collect forensic evidence, said Sub-Divisional Police Officer, Aswini Kumar Nayak. Police investigation led to the arrest of the five persons involved in the murder.
The victim had two wives. His first wife lived at K. Gulumiguda while his second wife stayed at Jaguguda village. According to the First Information Report filed with police, the victim had visited K. Gulumiguda on January 25 and returned from there to Jaguguda on January 28.
Coincidentally, on January 29, a person named Pushika Disa had died at K. Gulumiguda, after ailing for a long time. For some reason, some superstitious inhabitants of the village alleged that sorcery practices by the victim were the cause of Disa’s death.
According to police sources, Haraka Dandu, Narsu Pusika, Samana Pusika and Puska Daleya, along with Panchayat Samithi member Damdar Kadraka, had beaten Huluka to death.
