In a heinous incident of dacoity, three members of a business family at the temple town of Basar in Adilabad were murdered in the early hours of Saturday while a fourth one was seriously injured. The unknown offenders, who looted valuables of an unspecified value as of now, made good their escape in a car belonging to the victim family.
According to police, 60-year-old Salka Ashok Swamy and his son Manikanta (23), ran a general store shop of puja material near the famous Gnana Saraswati temple. His second son Sharat Chandra was a class V student in a local school.
The gruesome incident took place between 2 a.m. and 3 a.m. when 5 to 7 offenders gained entry through a window into the house located in Sharadanagar street close to the temple. The victims, including Ashok Swamy’s wife, were asleep in the ground floor portion of the house when they were attacked by axes by the intruders.
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The three persons died on the spot but Swamy’s younger son escaped with his life as the dacoits apparently left him to be dead. They broke open the safes and almirahs and looted all valuables before escaping in the car.
The incident came to light at about 5 a.m. when shop workers and tenants on the first floor woke up as the former needed to open the shop early. They found the doors unlocked revealing the dastardly murders.
The police headed by Bhainsa DSP Devidas Nagul swung into action and alerted all police stations.
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A dog squad and clues teams were pressed into service which is believed to have gained some vital clues into the incident.
Meanwhile, the injured Sharat Chandra was found in a dazed condition and shifted to Nizamabad. He was subsequently shifted to Hyderabad.