Tension prevailed at Thelakopada village under the Sambalpur Town police station on Monday after a youth Sujit Nag was brutally hacked to death by a rival group and in retaliation another youth, Shankar Mukhi, was killed a few hours later.
The first killing took place early in the morning in which one Pandav Mukhi along with his associates hacked Sujit with sharp weapons and left him critically injured near laxmi Talkies Square. Sujit succumbed to the injuries at the District Headquarters Hospital where he was rushed following the incident.
After the news of his death spread, Sujit’s supporters attacked Pandav’s house in the village and torched it. They also stabbed Shankar Mukhi, Pandav’s elder brother after failing to find him at home. The fire tender which rushed to the spot was not allowed to douse the blaze by the mob. later, Fire Brigade personnel were escorted by police and they brought the blaze under control. Shankar was rushed to the hospital but he died. Police which rushed to the spot had a tough time in restoring normalcy. Sambalpur district SP Sanjeev Arora also rushed to the spot and took stock of the situation. A huge number of police personnel were deployed at the spot to prevent any further flare up as tension prevails. The killings are suspected to be due to old enmity between two groups. Arora said five platoons of police have been deployed.