A former woman sarpanch and her husband were brutally killed near their residence in Keonjhar district.
The bodies of Rambha Patra and her husband Niranjan Patra were found near a well of their house on Wednesday.
According to reports, Rambha Patra, ex-sarpanch of K Balipal gram panchayat under Hatadihi block in the district, was living with her husband Niranjan Patra, the village guard of Baula police outpost, at Mayurnacha village. The couple was murdered on Tuesday night.
Allegedly, the bodies were thrown near the well of their house following murder.
On Wednesday, the villagers found the bodies in a pool of blood in the garden of their house and informed police. The Soso police reached the spot and recovered the bodies. Based on a complaint from Niranjan Patra’s nephew, the police initiated a probe into the incident.
Though the reason of murder was yet to be ascertained by the police, source said the incident might have taken place over land dispute with someone. A local leader even suspected political enmity behind the murder.
Zilla Parishad Deputy Chairman Somnath Das said, “Rambha Patra was the BJD-backed sarpanch from 2017 to 2022 and an active member in the party’s organisation. We are extremely saddened by murder of the former sarpanch and her husband. A few days back, the couple had altercation with someone over land. But we suspect that there might be political enmity behind the murder. As the former woman sarpanch was active in BJD organisation in the panchayat, she very often used to get threatened by BJP workers.”