Elderly man found dead in a ditch, murder suspected

JANAKPURDHAM: Police have launched an investigation after a man was found dead at Mudiwa Tole in Bideha Municipality of Dhanusha district on Thursday morning.

The deceased has been identified as 67-year-old Manair Thakur of the same municipality.

Thakur who had gone missing since Wednesday evening was found lying dead, with wounds in eyes, ears and hand, in a ditch by locals out for a morning walk.

Locals suspect that Thakur, who was returning home from his barn near the incident site, was murdered.

Thakur was a key witness in the murder case of a local woman. The main accused in the murder case, Bahadur Mandal was recently released by the court on a general date and was awaiting a court hearing on Friday and Thakur was expected to give his statement the same day.

The victim’s kin accused Mandal of silencing Thakur before he could record statements at the court.

According to victim’s kin, Mandal had passed death threats to Thakur if the latter gave his statement to court and both Mandal and Thakur had engaged in a heated discussion on Sunday.

In this backdrop, the victim’s kin have lodged a police complaint against Mandal.

According to police, circumstances leading to Thakur’s death are unusual and an investigation into the case is underway.

As of now, the law enforcement officers are awaiting an autopsy report from the hospital before making probable arrests.