BERHAMPUR: Authorities on Monday arrested 12 individuals because of their alleged part in the murder of their father and child in Muthaguda beneath Gajapati district Adava police station limitations on Saturday night on suspicion they were practising witchcraft.
The dead had been Loka Dalabehera (55) along with his son Anak (22).
The accused allegedly beat them to death in a cashew orchard close to the village.
They were seemingly performing some rituals if the accused assaulted them, imagining them to become shameful magic.
After getting advice from the local sarpanch, authorities contacted the distant village and then recovered the bodies and sent for postmortem.
They also captured puja items in the orchid along with the pine sticks used to kill the father and child.
“We’ve detained 12 individuals, all from exactly the identical village, in the relationship,” explained Dillik Kumar Nayak, sub-divisional authorities officer of R.Udayagiri.
“We are searching for others.
They’ve been recognized and will be arrested shortly.
Preliminary research revealed the reason behind murder has been witch hunt,” he added.
Authorities said the villagers guessed that the duo was practising witchcraft from the village and it caused the death of four young individuals.
The villagers claimed to have cautioned them from carrying out such actions.
But on Friday, the villagers held a meeting and also cautioned them from such pursuits.
However, the duo allegedly dismissed the warning and went into the orchard late at the night, in which they had been assaulted.