Bhubaneswar: Five people, including three women, were brutally murdered and four others injured in a conflict over an extramarital affair in Karamdihi village, in Odisha's Sundargarh district, late Tuesday night.
Police reported on Wednesday that two groups of nomads from Wardha, Maharashtra, who had been staying in the village for the past few months, clashed over the incident.
The gruesome attack was triggered after Abinash Pawar from one group brought a woman from the other group, following his wife’s extramarital relationship with a man from the same group, with whom she had eloped.
On Tuesday night, when Pawar's group was asleep, members of the other group allegedly attacked them with deadly weapons, killing five people.
Abinash, a woman, and two children were critically injured in the incident. Police further stated that Abinash's second wife and two children were kidnapped by the attackers, who fled the scene immediately after the incident.
Upon receiving information about the brutal murders, Western Range DIG Brijesh Ray, Sundargarh SP, and other senior officials rushed to the village with forensic teams and a dog squad to investigate the case.
"The injured were admitted to the Sundargarh district headquarters hospital," police said.
Initial investigations revealed that four assailants entered the village under the cover of darkness and committed the crime. Police have sealed the exit points and alerted the Jharsuguda and Sambalpur police, suspecting that the attackers might have fled with the kidnapped individuals.
A senior police official assured that all culprits would soon be apprehended. Multiple police teams have conducted raids, and nearby police stations have been alerted to monitor the movement of the perpetrators.
The incident has sent shockwaves through the area. A detailed investigation is underway, police confirmed.