Man kills 5 members of elder brother’s family over property dispute, surrenders

By Akshaya Rout

 Jajpur, Apirl 12: In a gruesome incident, a man on Monday night allegedly hacked five members of his elder brother’s family to death following a feud at Kusupur village under Mahanga police limits in Cuttack district.

Soon after committing the crime the accused Shiva Sahoo surrendered to the local Balichandrapur police.

The deceased were identified as Alekh Sahu, his wife Smruti Rekha Prusty, their daughter Smruti Sandhya Sahoo (18) and two minor sons –Smruti Sourav Sahoo (12) and Smrutisai Sahoo (8)

According to police, Shiva piled up the bodies in a room after committing the ghastly crime and locked the house from outside. He then issued a video message to the police informing them he had committed the crime in a fit of rage. The police immediately reached the crime spot and recovered the bodies by breaking open the door.

“My elder brother and his family members had been torturing me for a long time. All of them thrashed me together following an argument over a patch of land. I lost my cool over the incident and killed all of them. I will accept any punishment ordered by the court as per the provision in law,” Shiva said in his video message.

Tension flared up in the area following the incident.

Upon being informed, Jajpur superintendent of police Rahul P R visited the spot and supervised the investigation.

“Since the incident took place at Kusupur which falls under Mahanga police station, we have handed over the case them (Kusupur police). The accused is in police custody and the probe is on how and which circumstances the incident took place,” said the Mahanga police.

As per some villagers, both the brothers had a long dispute over a patch of land. They indulged in a heated exchange over the issue on the ill-fated day following which Shiva lost his cool and killed five members of the family.

Cuttack superintendent of police (rural) Jugal Kishore said the accused was in custody and interrogation was on to ascertain the motive of the crime.