Bhubaneswar: An unidentified criminal on Thursday afternoon stabbed a youth to death in front of an India-Made Foreign Liquor shop at Palasuni in Mancheswar police limits here.

Sources said Sanjay Behera, a resident of Munda Sahi in Mancheswar, was buying liquor from the shop located beside NH-5 when a man came on a motorcycle and stabbed him. Behera succumbed to his injuries after struggling on the spot for a few minutes.

On being informed, a team of Mancheswar police reached the spot, recovered the body and sent it for autopsy to Capital Hospital.

The police also seized the hard disk of the close circuit television cameras installed at liquor shop, while the forensic team collected other evidences from the spot.

"We have recovered the body and sent it for an autopsy. We suspect that a man from the area where the deceased lived is behind the murder. We have detained two family members of one suspect and are interrogating them," said a police officer.

"We have also collected evidences from the crime spot. The investigation is on."

The police have registered a case under Section 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code based on a complaint by Behera's family members.

One of his family members said there was a scuffle between Behera and one of their neighbours, who used to sell liquor at Palasuni during the night, a few days ago.

It is the second such case of a murder in the afternoon here in the past five days.

On May 6, a man who used to sell illicit liquor was beaten to death by three persons at Mochi Sahi near Old Station Bazaar.

Residents of Palasuni alleged that the police were showing an inability in controlling the illicit liquor trade that had mushroomed in the area.

They said a woman sold liquor illegally at night beside the liquor store where Thursday's incident took place.

"Scuffles, accidents are a regular affair here because of the sale of illicit liquor," said a local resident.

Recurrence of such incidents have renewed discussions about the police's ability to maintain law and order in the city.

"The youth might have been targeted because of enmity, but the stabbing could have injured others at the spot. The police have no control on such goons," said Rasulgarh resident Sanjay Rout.