Puri woke up to sheer horror with two separate murders in a single day including the killing of a senior servitor of the Lord Jagannath Temple jolting the pilgrim town on Wednesday.
A former member of the Jagannath Temple, senior servitor and present secretary of the Suara Mahasuara Nijog, Krushna Chandra Pratihari was shot dead by miscreants near Barabati area.
The senior servitor was immediately rushed to Puri district headquarters hospital but unfortunately treating physicians declared him dead.
“The two miscreants came on a motorcycle and opened fire two rounds of bullet at Pratihari who had come for a land deal,” said a senior servitor, Biswanath Mahasuar.
The attack is believed to be a fallout of past enmity.
“I had warned him to stay safe, but what can be done if it was destined to happen,” said DamodarMahasuar, former secretary of Suar Mahasuar Niyog.
In another incident, a youth allegedly hacked his mother to death at Subhadra Nagar under Penthakata Police limits in the district.
As per sources, the youth attacked his mother and other family members over a family dispute leaving one killed and three others critically injured.
The mother of the accused has been declared dead while his wife, father, and brother are undergoing treatment at Puri hospital.
Puri Collector Samarth Verma reached Puri hospital along with senior police officials to look into the murder cases and access the situation.
"Currently, our main focus is to nab the prime accused. As many as four teams have been formed to speed up the investigation to arrest the accused," informed Puri SP Kanwar Vishal Singh.