Two students murdered in school campus

Sambalpur, May 13 (UNI) In a shocking incident, two school students were strangled to death by unknown miscreants inside a school building at Kumelsingha, about 35 km from here under Atabita police station yesterday.

Police today said Nishant Behera and Umesh Pradhan were reported missing by their parents yesterday. Both students had gone to the playground in the afternoon but took shelter in the school building following heavy rains.

As the two boys did not report to their homes, their parents made a frantic search along with the villagers in the area at night and spotted the cycle of Nishant near the school building.

The villagers then entered the school building and found the two students lying dead inside a room.

The labourers engaged in the construction work of the school building were questioned but they pleaded ignorance about the incident.

On being informed about the matter, police pressed the sniffer dog squad into service to get some clue about the murders.

Later, four members of a Meher family in the nearby Meherpada area were taken into custody for interrogation after the sniffer dogs went to their home from the crime spot.

Police said the two students were strangled to death by a rope as no other injuries were noticed on their bodies, except a deep mark on their necks. The incident had sent shock waves in the locality.

Nishant was a student of the Kumelsingha Upper Primary School, while Umesh was studying in the Siddharth Public School.

UNI