Police maintain vigil near 'death ditch' in Tripura

Police launched a massive investigation after recovering an eighth body from a ditch last week; seven bodies had earlier been recovered from the same spot in a village in western Tripura, police said Saturday.

Panic-stricken villagers of Lefunga in western Tripura, 35 km north of the state capital, have urged police authorities to strengthen the vigil near the site after the bodies were recovered at different points of time in the past year from the same ditch.

"We have held a meeting with the villagers earlier this week about the bizarre development. People have become panicky. We have launched a massive probe to unearth the truth behind the serial killings," Sub-divisional police officer L. Darlong told IANS.

Security has been tightened in the village, and additional police personnel have been deployed in and around the ditch.

The last body to be found in the ditch was on June 6; the dead man appeared to be middle-aged, police said.