BH-WITCHCRAFT

2 elderly women killed in Bihar; 5 held
    Munger (Bihar), Mar 1 (PTI) 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. PTI CORR NAC
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