2 elderly women killed in Bihar; 5 held

Five persons have been arrested here for allegedly killing two elderly women suspected of practising witchcraft, police said Friday.

The women were beaten to death, the police said.

Pramila Devi (65) and Kapurva Devi (70), both of them widows, were killed in Gopali Chak village under the jurisdiction of Ladaiya police station of the district on February 24, the Superintendent of Police (SP) of Munger, Gaurav Mangla, said.

The police, after receiving information about the killings, exhumed the bodies of the deceased from a nearby forest, the SP said.

The police, based on the statements of the relatives of the deceased, lodged a suo motu FIR against nine persons, Mangla said.

"Five of the nine accused - Sadhu Manjhi, Muktar Manjhi, Ram Vilas Manjhi, Jivan Manjhi and Dharmesh Manjhi - have been arrested," the SP said.

"We are looking for the other accused persons," the SP added.