Bhubaneswar, Sep 27 (IANS): A local court in the Athamallik area of Angul district in Odisha on Friday awarded a death sentence to two persons in a ghastly triple murder case that occurred in 2017.

The convicts were identified as Prakash Behera and Nandakishore Sethi of Gambharimaliha under the Kishorenagar Police Station in Angul district.

Sources claimed that the deceased Biranchi Nayak who also hails from the same village had taken a loan of Rs 1.63 lakh from a local women Self Help Group to invest in his DJ sound and music business. Biranchi also later deposited the same amount in his bank account at the local SBI branch. The convict duo was not aware of this and decided to snatch the money from Biranchi.

"As per the plan, the convicts asked Biranchi to go out with them to watch an opera in a nearby village on the same night on October 10, 2017. The convicts later killed Biranchi by slitting his throat at Thakurgada village in the Athalammik block of the district. They later reached his house and asked for money from the victim's wife, Tarini Nayak, saying that Biranchi had met with an accident and the money was needed for his treatment," Additional Public Prosecutor, Asit Ranjan Deo told IANS.

Deo further added that Biranchi’s wife, who smelled a rat and shouted for help, was also killed by the duo. Meanwhile, the convicts noticed the 10-year-old son of Biranchi had witnessed the murder of his mother. They later took the minor son in their motorcycle and slit his throat to death at a spot just two kilometres far from the spot where Biranchi was killed.

The duo later again returned to the house of Biranchi and searched for the money there but couldn’t find anything. The ghastly triple murder shocked the whole district.

Based on the complaint of Biranchi’s younger brother, the Police registered an FIR on the next day and arrested the accused persons after a couple of days.

The court after examining the statements of 41 witnesses and other exhibits on Friday awarded the death sentence to the duo under section 302 of IPC. The court has also asked the District Legal Services Authority, Angul to pay Rs 30 lakhs as financial compensation to the deceased's Next of Kin.