A 24-year-old youth was killed while another 22-year- old youth from Baleswar was struggling for life in the SCB Medical College Hospital, Cuttack, on Friday after the duo was attacked by an armed gang.
The deceased was identified as Satyaranjan Das and the injured was Ranjit Das. Police said that they had obtained a dying declaration of the deceased.
“The dying declaration of the deceased was recorded before his shifting to Cuttack. He had mentioned the names of the accused persons. They have been identified and would be nabbed soon,” said DSP Amresh Panda.
The gang consisting nine masked persons, armed with sharp lethal weapons, attacked the duo when they were in a saloon at around 10.30 am due to a previous rivalry.
The incident is the fallout of an acute grudge between villagers of Gabagaon and Patrapada which cropped up due to a dispute over immersion of Goddess Durga idol.
Satyanarayan was out in bail from jail on Wednesday. He had been lodged in jail following his arrest in connection with a previous dispute, said his mother.