ROURKELA: Two anti-socials who had kept the remote J Raiboga village on tenterhooks were allegedly lynched to death by a group of angry locals in the intervening night of Monday and Tuesday.
The matter came to light after Bhasma police swung into action and arrested 16 villagers for what is believed to be a revenge killing. The 16 arrested are in the age group of 25 to 45 years. They were produced before a court in Sundargarh town by Bhasma police on Wednesday evening.
The deceased were identified as Radheshyam Raxa (30) and Ranjit Magda (45). Raxa was an anti-social element, while Magda was a criminal notorious in the area. On Sunday, Magda and Raxa with a few other associates assaulted a village youth following which a police complaint was lodged against them. The duo and its aides again allegedly attacked another youth and wanted to rob him on Monday, creating widespread resentment among other villagers, Sundargarh SDPO Himanshu Behera said.
The villagers then tracked down Raxa, Magda and others and unleashed a fatal attack on them on Monday night. Raxa was critically injured, while Magda and others managed to escape. Raxa who was undergoing treatment at Sundargarh district headquarter hospital succumbed in the early hours of Tuesday. The angry villagers, however, did not stop there and kept searching for Magda. When they found him hiding on the outskirts of the village, they attacked and killed him too, in the wee hours of Tuesday.
Police said the villagers used sticks and stones to kill the duo. Magda’s son in a complaint alleged that his father was killed with a hammer which is yet to be verified. As the complainant claimed the villagers also stole mobile phones of the deceased duo, they were booked for committing dacoity and murder.