Bhapur: In a gruesome incident, miscreants chopped off both arms of a youth and fled with his severed limbs at Jhumpudia village under Bhapur police outpost limits in Dhenkanal district Friday night, police said Saturday.
The grisly attack was the outcome of an alleged extramarital relationship, police sources said.
The victim was identified as Rajat Kumar Rout (23), son of Rasananda Rout. Rajat was found writhing in pain under a mango tree near the village pond. The incident sparked shockwaves in the area.
Family members rescued him and rushed him to the district headquarters hospital from where they shifted him to a private hospital in Cuttack after primary treatment. Doctors treating him have kept him under observation and stated his condition is critical.
On being informed, police and a forensic team along with sniffer dogs rushed to the spot and started an investigation Saturday. A sniffer dog pressed into service failed to trace the severed limbs from the area. A blood-stained billhook and a rope were seized from a toilet near the village pond.
Later, in the afternoon, villagers fished out the two limbs from a pond and handed them over to police who in turn sent them to a hospital in Cuttack where the victim is undergoing treatment.
Preliminary inquiries indicated past enmity and extra-marital relationship to be the reason behind the incident, Bhapur police OIC Satya Narayan Pradhan said.
Police registered a case against six persons including Susha Dhal and Beda Dhal in the village over a complaint filed by the victim’s father. All the accused persons are absconding since the incident.
According to Rajat’s father, the village youths were rehearsing for a play to be staged in the village. Rajat was participating in the rehearsal while his family members were waiting for him to return home.
They grew apprehensive after he did not return by 11 pm. They searched for him in adjoining areas and finally found him writhing in pain in a pool of blood under a mango tree near the village pond. They rescued him and rushed him to the hospital. PNN
