Berhampur, June 1: Residents of a village in Ganjam recently chose to seek the help of a tantrik to hunt down some villagers who, they believe, practised witchcraft to cause the death of five residents of the hamlet.

Police have launched a manhunt to nab the tantrik.

"Residents of Harijan Sahi in Padmapur of Sanakhemundi block suspected that the deaths, which took place over the past six months, were caused by some villagers who were practising sorcery," said a police official.

Yesterday, the tantrik and his team performed a trick locally known as khata bidya (moving a cot) to locate the "culprits".

"But the tantrik and his people fled the village as soon as we reached the spot," said inspector in charge of Patapur police station Ajaya Kumar Barik.

Sources said someone took pictures of the tantrik's performance on his mobile phone and informed police. The village is located some 18km away from the Patapur police station.

The tantrik and his team had reached the village from Itamati in Nayagarh district two days ago and started performing khata bidya in the early hours of yesterday. "We have information that the residents of Harijan Sahi paid Rs 40,000 to the tantrik for the job," said Barik.

The village committee had issued directions to the villagers not to divulge any information about the tantrik. The committee also asked all the villagers to stay in the village on Tuesday, a source from the village said.

"Not a single villager has disclosed any information about the incident. I think they are under fear of being ostracised," said Barik.

The police launched a manhunt and raided possible hideouts of the tantrik last night, but have so far drawn a blank.