Berhampur: Four persons were arrested Tuesday on the charge of killing four people including a couple and having buried the bodies in a forest, 3 km from Mankadachua village under Badagada police station in Ganjam district.
The accused Basudeb Gamang, Bipra Rait, Gouranga Mandal and Bambada Gamang of the same village were arrested for beating up the four to death, sub-divisional police officer (SDPO) of Aska Subash Panda said.
The deceased were identified as Bhima Gamang (38), his wife Jeni (36), his cousin Chandra Gamang (55) and one of his friends Ananda Rait (48) of Mankadachua village.
The police went looking for the four after three villagers lodged a complaint at Badagada police station Monday morning that the victims were missing since Saturday when they had gone to the forest to collect firewood.
After retrieving the bodies from a nearby jungle Monday, police sent them to MKCG Medical College and Hospital here for post-mortem, police said.
The police had recovered two motorbikes of the deceased persons from the jungle, the SDPO said.
Suspecting that Bhima might be practicing sorcery in the village and had a relationship with the wife one of the accused persons, the accused allegedly beat him to death, the police said.
Other persons, including Bhima’s wife were also killed when they intervened during the attack, they added.
“Investigation is on to ascertain the exact cause of the crime. The police were waiting for the post-mortem report to expedite the investigation,” the SDPO said. PTI
