Sambalpur: A 45-yearold man was allegedly bludgeoned to death with stones by two persons near Maa Pataneswari Temple under Town police limits late Tuesday night.
The deceased was identified as Gopal Bansal, alias Chintu, of Tiwari Gali under Khetrajpur police limits.
On being informed, police swung into action and arrested Aryan Singh, 21, and Sagar Swain, 33, both from Cheruapada under Town police limits.
Additional Superintendent of Police Sribanta Barik said Gopal was roaming near Fisheries Bund behind the temple late Tuesday night when he got into an argument with Aryan and Sagar over an unspecified issue.
The argument soon turned violent as the accused duo assaulted Gopal with fists and kicks, and knocked him to the ground.
The accused then repeatedly struck Gopal’s head and face with a large stone and killed him, police said.
Alerted, Town police rushed to the scene with a scientific team and launched an investigation.
Police detained Aryan and Sagar, and during questioning the duo confessed to the crime, following which they were arrested.
The stone allegedly used in the gruesome murder was also seized, while the scientific team collected evidence from the crime scene. Police recovered the body and sent it for postmortem.
A case (256/2026) was registered and the accused were produced in the court Wednesday.
Preliminary inquiry indicated that the murder occurred following a sudden brawl, police said.
Investigators are, however, trying to find out whether there was any other motive behind the murder.
“Both the accused are history-sheeters,” said a police officer.
