Dhenkanal: A 56-year-old man was shot dead in front of his house Sunday morning following a severe altercation pertaining to dispute over a pond at Kandhapal village of Gengutia panchayat under Sadar police limits in Dhenkanal district.
The deceased has been identified as Dalei Nayak. He was attacked by one of his relatives named Nrupati Nayak and latter’s family.
A source said that the two families had dispute over a patch of land in the village on which efforts were being made by Nrupati to dig a pond. The deceased is an ex-ward member. Dalei’s daughter-in-law named Pankajini has got elected as panchayat samiti member from ward No-14 in the recent three-tier rural polls.
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“Nrupati Nayak is a local contractor and he was previously lifting soil from a nearby pond by using tractors. The deceased man and his family were opposing it saying that the vehicles were damaging a village road accessing the pond as it was very narrow,” Dhenkanal Sadar sub-divisional police officer (SDPO) Bikash Behura said.
The pond was located in the close vicinity of Dalei’s house.
Earlier in the day, Dalei opposed when tractors arrived again in the village, thereby leading to a scuffle. All of a sudden, the accused man opened fire at Dalei by a country-made gun used for hunting.
Dalei succumbed to bullet injuries on the spot, Behura stated.
“My father had asked him (Nrupati) to take the tractors in another route. But, the latter did not pay any heed. Rather, opened fire at my father following a brawl,” son of the deceased Deepak said.
On the other hand, after Dalei died, his family members attacked the accused Nrupati’s wife and his (the latter’s) three-year-old son when they were trying to flee the village. The injured woman and her son are now undergoing treatment at a government-run hospital.
Nrupati’s wife was identified as 30-year-old Sarathi and son as Nitin.
Palpable tension prevailed in the village following the incident.
Meanwhile, a platoon of police force has been deployed in Kandhapal village to avert any untoward situation. Sadar police have detained a man in connection with the incident. A probe is underway.
PNN