Cuttack’s Elderly Couple Murdered Over ‘Personal Enmity’, Tenant Prime Suspect

Cuttack: Two days after blood-soaked bodies of an elderly couple were found in their house at Beleswar New Colony under Madhupatna police limits here, Twin City Commissionerate Police on Saturday attributed the double murder to personal enmity.

Cuttack DCP Akhilesvar Singh said that the elderly couple, Srinath Samal and his wife Bidyulata Samal, were possibly murdered over personal enmity and not for dacoity as was suspected earlier. A four-member team has been formed to investigate the case and the culprits will soon be nabbed, he added.

Police, which had seized a blood-stained kitchen knife and a chopper from the spot, had evidence about  involvement of four persons from Berhampur in the murder. The tenant, whom the couple had evicted about 10 days ago, is the prime suspect, sources said.

Prima facie evidence had suggested that people known to the couple were involved in the act since there was no sign of forced entry into the house.

The elderly couple was residing alone in Beleswar area. They had rented out a portion of the house to a youth, who was working as mason, about two months ago. However, Srinath asked him to vacate the house after his wife expressed displeasure over his behaviour and activities.

On Thursday, the couple’s daughter called them around 9 pm but her calls went unanswered. She then asked her neighbours to check on her parents. They found the gate and door to the house open and the bodies lying in a pool of blood with their throats slit, the sources added.

On Friday, a four-member forensic team conducted investigation, collected samples and evidence from the crime scene.

The incident had once again raised questions on safety and security of senior citizens in the twin cities of Bhubaneswar and Cuttack.