SAMBALPUR: Sambalpur police has ascertained the sequence of events behind the double murder at Maneswar following the arrest of two accused involved in the crime and scene recreation.
According to police, the accused Jagannath Dixit (58) along with his son Sanket Dixit (29) had plotted the plan to kill his mother Snehalata (98) and unmarried sister Sairendri (62) to acquire their house which was transferred to the later's name.
Sadar SDPO Tophan Bag said, during scene recreation, that the accused demonstrated how they executed the plan. On Tuesday night, the accused duo entered into the house and first choked Sairendri to death by stuffing her mouth with a towel. Subsequently, they dragged her body to the kitchen where they poured petrol on her body and turned on both the burners of gas stove.
They threw the petrol bottles outside to their backyard and then moved to Snehalata and choked her to death. Lastly, they set the kitchen on fire to dispose of Sairendri’s body and give it the impression of a fire mishap. They fled from a window on the back, he said.
"We have also collected the CCTV footage which shows the accused Sanket buying petrol in two bottles. No other person was involved in the incident and property dispute was the motive behind the murder," Bag added.
Snehalata was bedridden for her age-related illness while Sairendri, who had retired as a primary school teacher was unmarried and staying with her mother on the upper floor of the house. Jagannath and his family were living on the ground floor of the house.
"Jagannath discovered from revenue inspector's office that the house was in the name of two unmarried daughters of Snehalata. While one unmarried daughter had died earlier, Sairendri was staying with her mother making her the legal owner of the property after Snehalata. This is why he planned with his son to kill the duo to own the property," police sources said.
