BHAWANIPATNA: A 45-year-old man was reportedly axed to death by his elder brother at Choriagarh village within Junagarh police limits in Kalahandi district on Saturday evening.
Police identified the deceased as Subal Bag. The accused, 49-year-old Gopi Bag, also suffered injuries after being attacked by Subal with an iron rod. The crime took place over a property dispute between the siblings and sorcery suspicion.
Police said there was a long-standing dispute between the two brothers over a piece of land. Besides, Subal and Gopi accused each other of practising witchcraft, which further worsened their relationship.
Due to the dispute, Subal was staying at his father-in-law’s house in Rajpur for the last around two years. He returned to Choriagarh two days back. On Saturday evening, both the siblings came face-to-face on the village road and a heated argument broke out between the duo. The situation turned ugly when Subal grabbed an iron rod and hit his elder brother on the head. Gopi retaliated by assaulting him with an axe.
Subal sustained fatal injuries in the attack and died on the spot. Gopi also suffered head injury in the incident and was rushed to Dharamgarh sub-divisional hospital by villagers. He was later shifted to the district headquarters hospital at Bhawanipatna for better treatment.
On being informed, police reached the village and seized Subal’s body for postmortem. IIC of Junagarh police station Sesadev Behera said preliminary investigation revealed that the murder was a fallout of land dispute between the siblings. Besides, the duo suspected each other of practising black magic.
“Police registered a case in this connection and arrested the accused after he was discharged from the hospital on Sunday. He will be produced in court on Monday. Further investigation is underway,” Behera added.