A man of Balangir district mercilessly hacked to death his stepmother and five-year-old stepbrother with a hatchet, then forced his father to drink poison and consumed poison himself over a land dispute in the family.
Nrupa Rana, a native of Titisilet village under the Sindhekela police station was angry with his father over the division of land. On Thursday, he first forced his father to drink poison, and when his stepmother protested, he hacked her to death.
Frightened by the scene, when his stepbrother started running away, Nrupa chased him and chopped him to death.
He later tried committing suicide by drinking poison. Police officials rescued him and admitted him to a local hospital.
Nrupa, son of Khyama Rana from his previous marriage, was upset over the division of ancestral land after his father married Rukmani as his second wife.
Khyama Rana had divided 2.5 acres of land out of 4 acres that he owned amongst his two sons from his first marriage.