Sambalpur, May 29: Police today claimed to have cracked the murder case of a couple at Bandhpali on May 25. Chittaranjan Nayak, 51, and his wife Suryakanti Nayak, 49, were found dead in their house.

The police have arrested Chittaranjan's younger brother, Manabhanjan Nayak, 48, and Deepak Mallick, 33, of the same village for the murder.

According to the cops, the couple used to lend money to people. Manabhanjan had taken a loan of Rs 80,000 from them against mortgage of 1.5 acres of land. The accused had requested the couple to allow him to sell the plot and repay the money.

However, Chittaranjan refused and asked him to pay the cash to get back the land. This had led to a dispute between the two brothers.

The police said Manabhanjan had taken the help of Deepak Mallick, whose father Siba Mallick had also borrowed money from the couple. The police said Manabhanjan and Deepak had decided to steal the stamp papers, in which deals about the mortgage of the properties were written.

On May 25 night, they entered Chittaranjan's house with the intention of stealing the papers. However, the couple woke up and the accused, attacked the duo with an axe. Later, they took the bodies to the bedroom and locked it from outside.

"The accused have confessed to their crime," said inspector in charge of the Burla police station, Tophan Bag.