A grim land dispute in Balasore district has left one dead, sparked public fury, and drawn senior police attention as investigators race to nab the remaining accused.
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Residents of Balasore district in Odisha were left stunned when the body of a man, killed in what police describe as a brutal assault by his own relatives, was transported through the locality on a bicycle. The grim sight triggered immediate public anger and drew sharp attention to a feud that had apparently been simmering for years beneath the surface of an ordinary neighbourhood.
The deceased, whose identity has not been officially disclosed, was allegedly set upon by family members in a dispute that police say had its roots deep in a prolonged land disagreement.
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Acting swiftly after the incident came to light, police registered a formal case at Khaira Police Station. One suspect has since been taken into custody, though authorities confirmed that several others believed to be involved remain at large.
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Additional Superintendent of Police Debajyoti Dash addressed the matter publicly, stating that the land dispute between the two sides had been going on for a considerable period before it turned violent and fatal. Senior district officers, including the Superintendent of Police, personally visited the site.
Dash assured that all possible steps were being taken to prevent any breakdown of law and order in the area, and that the investigation was being given a clear and firm direction.
“We are making an all-out effort to give justice to the family of the deceased,” Dash said.
The Balasore killing is not an isolated horror. Just last month, a strikingly similar tragedy unfolded hundreds of kilometres away in Bahraich district of Uttar Pradesh, once again rooted in a dispute over land, and this time, jewellery too.
According to police, the carnage took place around midnight in Basantpur Udal village under Rupaidiha police station limits. A man named Nirankar, son of Badlu Verma, allegedly turned on his own family with an axe after an argument with his father spiralled out of control.
The trigger, officials said, was Nirankar’s fury over not receiving his share from the sale of family land and jewellery.
By the time neighbours rushed in after hearing the commotion, four members of the family lay dead. The victims were identified as Badlu Ram, approximately 60 years old; his wife Sanju Devi, around 56; their daughter Parvati, roughly 42; and Sitala, aged around 80, who was the wife of another family member, Ram Feran.
Nirankar’s brother Gurudev, who survived the attack after being struck on the head with the same axe, was the one who raised the alarm. His young son Azad was also present and witnessed the bloodshed.
In what ASP Durga Prasad Tiwari described as an extraordinary sequence of events, Nirankar, apparently in the grip of violent frenzy even after the killings, began repeatedly striking his own head against a brick, inflicting serious self-injury. He was apprehended on the spot.
All four bodies were sent to the District Hospital in Bahraich for post-mortem examination.
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