Berhampur, June 2: Residents of Bateguda and Paderama villages in Gajapati district beat up and burnt to death two persons suspecting them of practising black magic.

The victims have been identified as Subash Mallick, 57, and Pitela Majhi, 65.

The incident took place in the Adaba police station limits on the night of May 27, but the accused tried to hush up the matter and threatened the victims' families of dire consequences if they spoke to anyone about what had happened.

However, on May 31, Subash's son Rajiv filed a police complaint and the cops swung into action.

"We have arrested 12 villagers and seized the ashes from a nearby jungle," said inspector in charge of Adaba police station Anam Lakra.

The police have registered a case under sections 143 (unlawful assembly), 147 (rioting), 148 (rioting armed with weapons), 302 (murder), 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of offence, or giving false information) 149 (guilty of offence committed in prosecution of common object) of the Indian Penal Code and sections 4, 5 and 6 of the Odisha Prevention of Witchcraft Act.

"We will arrest some more persons," Lakra said.

According to the police, the villagers blamed Subash Mallick, Pitela Majhi and Sami Majhi for the untimely death of five persons in past five years.

They convened a meeting and decided to bring two witch doctors from Daspalla in Nayagarh to identify the black magic practitioners on May 21. Next day, the witch doctors arrived the village and held Subash, Pitela and Sami responsible for the deaths of the five villagers. A fine of Rs 60,000 was also imposed on them at the village meeting on May 26.

The villagers, however, spared Sami after he had agreed to pay the fine in two instalments within 10 days. But, they severely beat up Subash and Pitela, who refused to pay the fine. Then they dragged both of them to the nearby jungle, hanged them upside down from a tree and burnt them alive, the police said after preliminary investigation.

Subash was a quack and had opened an ayurvedic clinic at Dhadiamba near Adaba.

While 12 villagers have been arrested for the murder, the two witch doctors, who had declared both the victims as black magic practitioners, have escaped, sources said.