Puri: Three persons were brutally murdered by unidentified assailants near a police check-post in the district.
According to police sources, the incident occurred at Pattnaikiya Chhak between Bhubaneswar and Puri under Satyabadi police limits Sunday afternoon.
The victims have been identified as Purna Behera, 45, and his brother Krushna Behera, 42, and Panchua Behera, 44, a relative, residing at Sadanandapur in the vicinity.
While the exact reason behind the killing is yet to be ascertained, it is suspected that the incident could have been the fallout of past hostilities, said the police. According to locals, some miscreants hacked Purna, owner of an eatery in the locality, while he was returning home. The miscreants also attacked Panchua with sharp weapons when he had tried to intervene.
The desperadoes did not spare Purna’s brother Krushna Behera after he reached the spot on a motorcycle. The trio died instantaneously. Demanding immediate arrest of the accused, several villagers staged a road blockade.
Notably, Purna’s brother Ajya was found dead a year ago. His mutilated body was recovered from the nearby railway tracks. It was then suspected that some people might have killed Ajay over past enmity.