Panic gripped the steel city following a brutal murder of two persons, including a woman, whose bodies were found from a field near a garage in the Hanuman Vatika area under the Raghunathpali police station on Monday morning.
While identity of the deceased woman was not known, the body of the youth was identified as that of Habil Toppo (40) of Khariapada Basti in the city. According to Rourkela DSP PK Mishra, the incident occurred in the wee hours of Monday. The police and a scientific team rushed to the spot and started investigation. Police seized a bloodstained hammer, a sickle and a stick from the spot.
Preliminary investigation revealed that the duo was murdered with a sharp weapon after being thrashed with the stick and the hammer. Police suspected the hand of the garage owner in the incident as he failed to name the woman and her husband who were staying in his garage. Police is also in search of the woman’s husband, whose whereabouts are not known. Raghunathpali IIC IC Das said they are still uncertain about the cause of the crime and who committed it.