Man kills mom, three others; cops suspect black magic

RAIPUR: A 35-year-old man in Chhattisgarh, who dabbled in Tantric practices, axed his mother and three neighbours to death and sacrificed three cows and seven chicken at a village in Surguja district of Chhattisgarh. He was arrested on Sunday.
Surguja SP Ashutosh Singh told TOI that the accused, Ishwar Ram Paikra, went berserk with an axe midway through a tantric ri tual on Saturday night.
According to police, Paikra was conducting some ominous rites and sacrificed seven chickens in his bedroom in Devgarh village. His wife was terrified. She ran into a neighbour’s house, where Paikra’s mother was visiting, to seek help. Enraged, Paikra followed her with an axe and hacked his 60-year-old mother, Rajkuwar, to death, say police. He then turned his fury on neighbours Manvasiya Kanwar (70), Jabbar Sai Kanwar (80), and Mohan Sai (50) and cut them down mercilessly. All four died instantly. Looking for more targets, he butchered a calf, cow and a buffalo with the axe, the SP said.
Villagers were alerted by the screams of the victims and teamed up to overpower Paikra. They snatched his axe, beat him up and held him confined until they could inform police early on Sunday.
A police team went to Devgarh village, but Paikra attacked them when they tried to take him in custody. The bodies were sent for autopsy and the accused admitted to hospital.
Preliminary probe found that some rituals had been performed in the house, and flowers and gulal were strewn around. “It seems to be a case of black magic. We are trying to find out what triggered the killing spree, and also checking if he is mentally sound,” the SP added.