Nadia, 19 January (H.S.): An elderly man was arrested on Monday for allegedly hacking his daughter-in-law and her mother to death with an axe at Ashutoshpur village, under Habibpur Gram Panchayat in Ranaghat area of West Bengal's Nadia district. The police recovered the bodies of the two women from the scene and took the accused into custody. A blood-stained axe was also seized.

According to police sources, the accused has been identified as Ananta Biswas, approximately 75 years old. His wife had passed away a few days earlier. Ananta's son, Patitpaban Biswas, had invited his mother-in-law, Swapna Mandal, to his home to attend his mother's funeral rites.

Allegedly, Ananta Biswas blamed his daughter-in-law, Shilpa (24), and her mother, Swapna Mandal (56), for his wife's death. He suspected that his daughter-in-law, with the help of her mother, had conspired to seize his property through witchcraft or black magic, and that this was the cause of his wife's death.

On Monday morning, Ananta's son, Patitpaban, had gone to the market to sell flowers. At that time, his wife and mother-in-law were sleeping at home. Allegedly, Ananta then picked up an axe kept for chopping wood and attacked both women. Both women died scummed to their severe injuries.

When Patitpaban returned home, he found his wife and mother-in-law lying in a pool of blood and started screaming. When he questioned his father, Ananta allegedly replied in a cold tone, I have removed the thorns from your path.

Hearing Patitpaban's screams, neighbors rushed to the scene and informed the police. The police from Ranaghat police station recovered the two bodies from the spot and sent them for post-mortem. Local residents and a panchayat member said that the heinous murders were committed due to a property dispute and superstition.

The police are currently investigating the entire incident.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Priyanka Pandey