Basudevpur: Twenty days after two women went missing after leaving their homes to apply for Subhadra Yojana at Panchagheria village under this block in Bhadrak district, police Thursday arrested the husband of one of the women during the investigation.
The breakthrough came after the recovery of two human skulls from a sack near a water body in the village indicative of a double murder.
The victims were identified as Jamuna Samal, 55, and his married daughter Kaushalya Gayan, 35, in the village. The accused was identified as Kaushalya’s husband Gurupad Gayan, 40. Police after arresting Gurupad took him to the crime spot and recreated the crime scene.
The accused confessed to having killed his wife and mother-in-law and later chopped up the bodies for disposal. He buried some of the body parts and threw away the rest in a stream.
The investigation suggested that the murder took place over a bitter quarrel between the couple over the misappropriation of money. Police said both Jamuna and his daughter Kaushalya lived nearby in the same village.
The mother-daughter duo left home 20 days back to apply for the Subhadra Yojana but failed to return to their respective homes by night. Jamuna’s other daughter, Kakeli Gayan, searched for them unsuccessfully and later lodged a missing complaint at Nayakanidihi police station.
Police registered a case and launched an investigation. However, villagers Wednesday spotted a dog feasting on human skulls from a sack lying near a water body in the village. They suspected that the skeletal remains might be of the mother-daughter duo and informed the Nayakanidihi police.
Police intensified the investigation and detained Gurupada along with one of his brothers for questioning. The interrogation revealed a premeditated murder of the two women as Gurupada admitted to having killed them. He admitted that after killing his wife and mother-in-law, he chopped their bodies and dumped the parts in a large fish tank in the village and also buried some of the body parts near another water body. Police along with a scientific team and Gurupada recreated the crime scene, Thursday.
The accused demonstrated how he killed his wife and mother-in-law and later chopped their bodies into various parts. He also demonstrated how he buried some of the body parts near the water body and dumped the rest parts in the fish tank.
The probe indicated that Gurupada was not on good terms with his wife and mother-in-law for the past few months and always quarrelled with them at the slightest pretexts. His wife had deserted him and was living outside the state. The incident occurred when she had come home to apply for Subhadra Yojana.
The dispute between Gurupada, his wife and his mother-in-law over domestic issues and the misappropriation of money took an explosive turn, September 27. Kasuhalya and his mother Jamuna were returning home after applying for Subhadra Yojana when Gurupada waylaid and attacked them with sharp-edged weapons, SDPO Saurav Otta said.
PNN