Four of a family killed by man seeking revenge for his wife’s murder

“The incident occurred in Chattani Tola of Patthar Bhanga village in Potka around 6 a.m. Those who died were identified as Thapa Tudu (35), his brother Ramesh Tudu (28), Ramesh’ wife Malti Tudu (22) and Ramesh’ sister Sonia Tudu (18). Ramesh and Thapa used to work as drivers for private individuals. The accused has been identified as Basko Tudu (45). Basko would earn his livelihood by picking up odd jobs in the village. He has been arrested,” said Incharge (Potka) Arvind Kumar Yadav.

He added that the accused carried out the murders to take revenge of killing of his wife, Bali Tudu (40), on January 15, by Shyam Tudu alias Bhairo, the elder brother of Thapa. Shyam had already been arrested.

Sub-Divisional Police Officer (Musabani) Ajit Kumar Vimal said: “Basko has told us that, following the murder of his wife, he had begun carrying an axe fearing for life. He had gone to answer nature’s call, where he spotted Thapa, also relieving himself. He claims that Thapa passed some comments on him, which enraged him. He attacked Thapa and killed him on the spot.”

Vimal added that the surge of anger did not subside and Basko went to their home. “As soon as Ramesh opened the door, he attacked him. He was angry over the murder of his wife on the day of a festival. Malti and Sonia began shouting for help and tried to close the door. But Basko broke through it and then hacked the two women also,” said the officer.

“This case is directly related to the murder that had taken place on January 15 in the same area. Basko’s wife Bali Tudu (40) was murdered by Shyam Tudu alias Bhairo on January 15. Shyam was arrested in that case and sent to jail. But Basko was nursing a grudge against the family,” said Vimal.

Initial investigations revealed that Basko and Shyam Tudu had a history of litigation over property. Shyam, in a bid to get rid of the opposite party, murdered Bali while levying allegations that she was involved in witch-craft. “Our investigations indicate that the allegation of witch-craft was just a created excuse and the backdrop of the dispute was litigation over property,” said Vimal.