Bhubaneswar, July 4: Mystery continues to shroud the gruesome murder of four children in Deogarh district.
Yesterday, Naveen ordered a CID probe on the floor of the Assembly.
The bodies of the children — three girls and a boy — were found floating in a pond on Thursday night in Deogarh district. Making a statement in the Assembly, the chief minister said the postmortem report has revealed that the death of the four children was due to strangling. Besides, one of the deceased girls had symptoms of suspected sexual torture.
The chief minister, while quoting the reports of the police, said the five students — Eliza Dev (10), Santoshini Dev (9), Dolamani Dev (8), Sagarika Dev (10) and Dhananjay Rout alias Muna (11) — all from Rangamatia village, had gone to Dhobalipathar UGME School on Thursday. After their classes got over at 3.45 pm, all except Muna reportedly went to the nearby jungle near Jagannathpur village to collect wild leaves for chewing.
However, in the evening, the school bags and shoes of the four were detected by a farmer, Shyama Mahanada, near a pond. The farmer then informed Rangamatia villagers of his revelation. After intensive search, the guardians of the missing students found the four bodies in the pond.
The postmortem report has indicated that Eliza Deb, one of the girls, may have been sexually abused before being killed, but the motive behind the murders is still far from clear. The viscera of Eliza have been preserved for further chemical examination on the advice of the doctor.
Villagers of Rangamatia have alleged that the murders could be the culmination of the political feud between the sarpanch and the Debs. The Debs are reportedly supporters of the Congress and had their differences with the sarpanch.
A crime branch team headed by inspector-general of police M.M. Das visited the spot on Saturday. While superintendent of police P.K. Mohanty would supervise the case, Deogarh police officer U.K. Singh would head the investigation.
Naveen pointed out that sniffer dogs and a forensic team have also been sent to the site to aid the investigation. He added that police have apprehended a suspect in the case. “It’s a tragic incident and should not be politicised,” Naveen said.
