Ramachandrapur: Tensions ran high as a youth was beaten to death Tuesday evening by a co-villager over past enmity at Pandua square under Ramachandrapur police limits of Anandapur sub-division in Keonjhar district. The deceased was identified as Rahamat Khan, 25, a resident of Pandua village. The accused Muna Jena and his family members fled the village after the incident. The incident sparked tension in the area as locals set the house of the accused on fire.
Later, they demonstrated with the body of the deceased and set up a roadblock throwing the traffic in disarray. Anandapur SDPO Prasant Kumar Behera along with a large police contingent rushed to the spot and tried to placate the agitators. He requested them to withdraw the roadblock.
However, the protestors insisted on the arrest of the accused and continued with their demonstrations. They said that as long as the accused is not arrested they will continue their protests. The incident occurred when Rahamat had gone to Pandua Square to buy betel. Rahamat was sitting on his bike when the accused Muna arrived at the spot and picked up a fight with him. During the argument, Muna suddenly picked up a stick and hit Rahamat on the head. Bleeding profusely, Rahamat collapsed on the road and died on the spot.