Odagaon: A mentally challenged man has been taken into police custody for killing two persons in the Odagaon market locality in Nayagarh district on the intervening night of January 16 and 17. He has been remanded to judicial custody.
Niranjan Mallick, 37, of Kushadhipa village near Odagaon attacked people without any provocation. Two persons — a night watchman and woman — died after being brutalised with wooden planks while two other women suffered severe injuries. They are undergoing treatment at two different hospitals in Bhubaneswar. The IIC was also injured in Niranjan’s attack.
Immediately after the attack an irate mob surrounded Niranjan and started thrashing him. Police rescued him and took him into custody. Police also seized the blood-stained wooden planks with which he had attacked the victims and also seized his clothes.
Niranjan, whom people believed to be a mentally challenged person, was produced at a first class judicial magistrate court after medical examination.
He is said to have answered all the questions as a normal person. After his bail plea was rejected, he was remanded in judicial custody, said investigating officer Bansidhar Biswal.
The irate people staged a nine-hour-long road blockade, demanding compensation to the family members of deceased and injured ones.
They also demanded the posting of an experienced doctor at the local hospital and the transfer of IIC.
Police arrested seven agitators for blocking the road.
PNN