Three members of a family were hacked to death by unknown assailants near a police check-post in broad daylight in Puri district on Sunday afternoon.
The deceased, identified as Krushna Behera, Purna Behera and Panchu Behera were residents of nearby Sadanadapur village
The shocking incident took place near Pattnaikiya Chhak on the Puri-Bhubaneswar main road at Pipili despite presence of many people.
While the exact reason behind the brutal murder was not known, it was suspected that the incident could be the fallout of previous enmity.
It was assumed that the incident had connection with the murder of a former sarpanch, Ajay Behera, a few days ago.
Angered over the murder in broad daylight at a time when lakhs of people are going to Puri on this highway for the ongoing Rath Yatra, locals staged a roadblock demanding immediate arrest of the killers. The Satyabadi and Pipili police had to resort to a lathicharge to disperse the agitators.
“As the situation is tense at present, 10 platoons of police have been sent to the spot. A detailed investigation into the incident will be carried out,” said Puri SP Umashankar Das.
The dead bodies were seized and sent to the Puri District Headquarters Hospital for postmortem.