Phulbani: The police claimed Tuesday that the tribal couple who was suspected to have been killed March 8 by Maoists in Kandhamal district was instead hacked and beaten to death by the villagers. The villagers were apprehensive that the two were performing black magic regularly. The gruesome murders took place at Gadapadar village. The bodies of the couple were recovered the next day in a pool of blood in a forested area with injuries on their heads.
Initially it was suspected that the couple, identified as Batasi Kanhar (41) and Tahira Kanhar (45), was killed by Maoists. However, investigations later revealed that they were hacked and beaten with heavy objects by the assailants, Kandhamal SP, Subhendu Patra said here Tuesday. Police after seizing the bodies examined the wounds of the victims. The police found out that the manner of killing was different to that of the Maoists. The killers had hit the victims on their heads with blunt objects. The Maoists usually do not adopt this method to kill anyone, police said. The police investigation further revealed that the villagers suspected the couple of performing witchcraft after some people in the locality fell ill. The couple was of a religious bent of mind and used to perform puja in their house regularly. The couple was then accused of sorcery and evicted from the village and they had shifted to a different place. At a village committee meeting March 4, a decision was taken to kill the couple.
Accordingly, a person by the name of Sunil Digal was hired for Rs 40,000 to carry out the act. Sunil later confessed before the police and said that he was accompanied by around 10 others to kill the couple. They first murdered Batasi and then her husband Tahira, he told the police. The deceased Tahira was a former ward member of Salaguda Gram Panchayat. The police have arrested 10 people in this connection, the SP informed. He added that efforts are on to find out if anyone else was involved in the gruesome murders.