Hazaribagh, Oct 11 (IANS): A Dalit youth was dragged out of his house and murdered in Pachda village in Keredari police station area of Hazaribagh district of Jharkhand. His body was tied with his shirt and hung from an electric pole. The victim has been identified as Sitan Bhuiyan.

The body was seen hanging on Tuesday morning by the villagers. The Keredari police reached the spot and brought the body down and had to face the villagers' opposition while sending it to Hazaribagh for post-mortem. The villagers protested that they will not allow the police to take the body until the accused were arrested. This argument went on for around three hours. The police were able to take the body after assuring of assistance as per the government provisions.

The victim's wife, Paro Devi, has accused 8-10 people of the village, including Shankar Sahu, Janardan Sahu, Suresh Sahu and Deepak Sahu of murder. Late at night on October 10, some people came to our house and forcibly took my husband away, said Devi in her complaint.

Devi, in the statement to the police said that the accused entered her house and locked her and her children in a room. Their cries for help couldn't be heard due to the loud noise of the DJ playing in the village.

Bhuyan was 35 years old and worked as a labourer. He is survived by his wife and four children. The motive behind the murder is not known yet but the villagers are linking it to a love affair.

Keredari police station in-charge, Sadhan Chandra Gorai has said that an FIR has been registered against 10 people in this case. Raids are being conducted to nab the culprits involved in the murder. Keredari Block Pramukh Sunita Devi, Pachda Panchayat Mukhiya Mahesh Prasad Sahu and local social worker Prem Ranjan Paswan have demanded the arrest of the accused and compensation from the administration to the family members.