In a shocking incident in Odisha’s Mayurbhanj district, Debashish Patra, a local resident, has been arrested for the brutal murder of his 23-year-old wife, Sonali Dalal, and her mother, Sumati Dalal, with police uncovering their bodies buried in his lemon orchard. Patra allegedly killed the two women on July 19 by crushing them with a stone during a domestic dispute that escalated fatally. To conceal the crime, he buried the bodies in his garden under cover of darkness and rain, planting banana trees over the site to avoid suspicion.

Preliminary investigations suggest ongoing marital discord between Patra and Sonali, with Sumati attempting to mediate by bringing her daughter back to Patra’s home on July 12. Following the murders, Patra filed a false missing persons report with the police and misled his in-laws, claiming the women had left after dropping off the couple’s son. However, villagers grew wary of Patra’s behavior and noticed freshly disturbed soil and newly planted banana trees in his orchard. Their tip-off led police to question Patra, who confessed and guided authorities to the burial site, where the decomposed bodies were recovered and sent for post-mortem examination.

A case has been registered, and the police continue to investigate the motive and circumstances surrounding this heinous double murder, which has sent shockwaves through the local community.

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