The authorities distribute umbrellas and shades to the Rourkela traffic police personnel on Tuesday. Picture by Uttam Kumar Pal

Keonjhar, Aug. 2: Unknown assailants hacked two members of a family at Panasijharan village within the Anandapur police limits in Keonjhar district late last night.

The deceased have been identified as Salma Soren, 48, and her son, Rabindra Kumar Soren, 20. Both were residents of Panasijharan village under Manoharpur gram panchayat.

“In the morning when came to know that they were not opening their door. We knocked at the door many time but no response came from inside. At last we managed to open the door, which were not bolted from inside, and found both the mother and her son lying in a pool of blood. Then we informed the police,” said Thakur Das, a neighbour. The goons committed the murder, when the victims were alone in the house, he said.

In another development, the police had reached the spot and started probing into the incident. Sniffer dogs have been pressed into service to find clues relating the murder. It was also suspected that some sharp weapon had been used to commit the crime. However, the reason behind the murder is yet to be ascertained.

“On being informed, we rushed to the spot and found both the mother and her son lying dead. Their throats were silted open with sharp weapon,” said inspector in-charge of Anandpur police station Subodha Kanta Mallick.

Terming it as a clear case of murder, the police said: “No doubt it’s a murder case. But, the exact reason behind the crime is not clear from the preliminary investigation,” said the investigating officer.