Nine arrested for killing man, burying body in forest over ‘witchcraft’ suspicion in Odisha

Bhubaneswar: Nine people have been arrested for their alleged involvement in the killing of a village quack on suspicion of practising witchcraft in Odisha’s Gajapati district, police said Friday.

According to police, a group of people at Kusumpur village under Mohana police limits in the district thrashed the quack, identified as Karunakar Dalai, to death and buried his body in a nearby forest July 28 night.

The matter came to light Wednesday after Karunakar’s sister-in-law, Sabita, filed a complaint at Mohana police station.

A day later, police recovered the body from a forest and sent it for post-mortem examination.

“So far, we have arrested nine people for Karunakar’s murder and efforts are on to nab other persons involved in the case,” Gajapati SP Jatindra Kumar Panda told PTI over phone.

During preliminary investigation, police found that Karunakar prescribed ayurvedic-like medicines to villagers.

Around 15 to 20 days ago, Karunakar had prescribed some medicines to a 12-year-old boy, who was bitten by a dog. However, the boy died a few days later, the police officer said.

“Angry over the death of the boy and a few similar cases that took place recently, a group of 10 to 12 people beat Karunakar to death and buried his body in a nearby jungle,” the SP said.

Notably, this was the second such incident reported from Mohana police limits over the past few days.

Earlier, a 35-year-old man was killed allegedly on suspicion of practising witchcraft at Malasapadar village.

PTI

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