Angul: A suspected human sacrifice incident in Athmallik block of Angul district took a violent turn when angry locals staged a road blockade and torched a police vehicle, demanding justice to the bereaved family, Friday.
The mutilated body of Sanjeev Biswal, 13, who was missing since July 23, was found hanging from a tree in Bareni forest under Athmallik block Friday morning.
A source said the Class VII boy of Subarnapur village under Kiakata police limits of Athmallik block was suffering from certain health issues for the past few days. Sanjeev’s mother, Basanti, had taken him to Mangala temple at Tusar village, a few kilometres away, to perform certain rituals for the boy’s wellbeing July 22.
The mother-son duo slept on the temple premises after performing the rituals in the evening. However, Basanti could not find her son the next morning, sources said. With no way out, Basanti approached the Kiakata police who registered a case (68/23) and launched a search operation to trace Sanjeev. Alleging laxity, a few villagers had gheraoed the police station Thursday evening.
A few of them, who had been to Bareni forest Friday morning, were the first to spot Sanjeev’s mutilated body hanging from a tree and alert his family members. Soon, villagers staged a blockade near Bareni Square on Athmallik-Kiakata road demanding `20 lakh compensation to the bereaved family and arrest of the accused female ‘tantric’.
Meanwhile, hundreds of vehicles remained stranded on either side of the road for hours. “It’s a clear case of human sacrifice for tantric rituals (black magic) as Sanjeev’s body bore multiple injuries. The body was hanged after the rituals just to paint it as a case of suicide,” an agitator said. Kiakata police reached spot to placate the mob.
However, the agitators torched the police van. Soon after, Angul ASP Surendra Rayguru, Athmallik SDPO Balakrushna Kuanr, Athmallik Sub-Collector Tarani Suna and Athmallik Tehsildar Jasbant Dehury reached the spot and managed to pacify the protesters after an hourlong effort. Later, the body was sent for post-mortem.
PNN