Malda, Dec. 10: Two men were hacked to death in the early hours today by unknown criminals who had come to steal fish from a large pond they were guarding near Gour Banga station in Englishbazar police station area.

Samiruddin Sheikh, 60, and Raju Sahni, 19, were killed by the gang, which police believe was made up of local residents. No one has been arrested for the twin murders.

Police superintendent Sashi Kant Poojari claimed that they had identified some of the assailants and were conducting raids in various areas to arrest them. According to preliminary investigations, about eight to 10 men went to the 22-bigha pond with nets to steal fish.

There were three men guarding the pond at that time. One of them went out on a boat which got snared in one of the nets. When the guards recovered the nets and were carrying them away through a mango orchard, the attackers set upon them. Two of them were hacked to death while the third, Masidul Islam, managed to flee.

Sources said the pond had been taken on a lease of Rs 3 lakh for two years by Sanatan Ghosh of Kamalbari village nearby. The owners of the pond, Basid Haji and Kud- dus Haji, were residents of Suja.

Local residents alleged that the police came four hours after the incident, giving the attackers plenty of time to get away. However, they could not steal a single fish from the pond.