CUTTACK/BHUBANESWAR : In a shocking incident, two youths were found brutally murdered inside a garage located near Nirgundi railway station under Tangi police limits on Wednesday.
Preliminary investigation suggested the two - both in their early 20s - were beaten to death after being tortured inside the garage. Their bodies bore injury marks. The killers had removed clothes the two victims were wearing, tied them to a pole, poured cold water and bludgeoned them to death.
The deceased were identified as Prasant Kumar Jena (23) of Jatrapadia locality in Choudwar and Md Soheb (21) of Bilteruan village under Tangi police station.
The victims used to work as daily wagers at different business establishments in Manguli area. Police suspect they may have entered the garage for theft purposes but were caught.
Police sources said all the workers of the garage were absconding after the incident. “We suspect four to five people were involved in the gruesome act,” said the sources. Om Namah Narayani Garage, where the crime took place, dealt in repair of earthmover machineries.
Garage owner, Dillip Kumar Nayak, is being interrogated in connection with the case. He told police that when he closed the workshop last night, there was no one inside. He claimed to have received information from the locals about murder of two youths inside his garage and alerted the police.
Police said they got information about the double murder from 112 helpline, following which senior police officials rushed to the spot and launched an investigation with the help of a scientific team.
“We have registered a case of murder. Multiple teams have been formed to nab the suspects. An SDPO ranked officer has been entrusted the probe,” Cuttack (Rural) SPP Vinit Agarwal told this paper.
Choudwar SDPO Umakant Nayak said police seized the rope used in tying the youths to the pole, a bowel containing cold water and iron rod used to assault the youth.
Police sources said the garage was under CCTV coverage and its footage is being examined. The CCTV footages of the nearby locality is also being verified for identification of the suspects.
Meanwhile, Abdul Muslim Khan, uncle of Soheb, lodged an FIR in connection with the double murder and sought a proper investigation.