Unidentified persons hacked two young men to death and set the victim’s house on fire in Bidar on Wednesday.
Sumit Devdas, 30, and his friend Shivakumar Sharanappa, 31, were killed at Devdas’s house near the district stadium. Neighbours noticed smoke and alerted the fire station. Fire fighters found half burnt bodies and informed the police. "At first, we thought it was a cylinder blast. But when the fire forces personnel began clearing burnt furniture, we came to know some one had set fire to the house," said Dattatreya, who works in a tea stall on the street.
Sumit’s brother Ravi Raj said he was in a train traveling from Bengaluru to Bidar, when he got a call about fire in their house. He does not suspect anyone’s involvement in the incident. ``Sumit had a large circle of friends. He was a very quiet young man,’’ he said.
Ravi Raj claimed some gold jewelry was missing from the house. Shivakumar was a bill collector in Basava Kalyan city municipal council while Sumit was between jobs.
Married two years ago, Summit was living with his mother who retired as a government nurse. Due to family discord, his wife was living with her parents. Shivakumar also had family problems, police said.
Police say the victims were hit on the head with some blunt object. District canine squad member Rani was pressed into action.
"This is an apparent double murder. The motive behind it is not clear. But we are following some leads,’’ Superintendent of Police Prakash Nikam said after visiting the spot. He suspects that the fire was set to destroy clues.
