Hazaribag: A 30-year-old data entry operator with Central Coalfields Ltd’s Amrapali project, who lived with his wife in a quarter at Main Gate area of Giddi, was allegedly hacked to death at home early Sunday, while his wife was assaulted, robbed and tied up, police said.The victim, Mangalesh Pal alias Happy, was originally from Ramgarh. His wife, Sonali Devi, is 26. The couple married four years ago and has a son aged two and a half years, who was in Gaya at the time. Sonali had returned from her maternal home in Gaya two days before the incident.Happy had allegedly fractured his leg while playing volleyball outside his house on Oct 5, was hospitalised for around 10 days and returned home three days before the killing with his leg in a plaster cast. An investigating officer said the killers appeared to have known about Happy, his fractured leg and the CCL colony, which has low-height boundary walls and no CCTV cameras.Happy suffered deep wounds to his head, neck and abdomen, and his right hand was severed, cops said. A forensic team and dog squad were called to collect evidence.Giddi police station officer in-charge Md Iqbal Hussain said investigators were examining all possible angles, including robbery, and that the motive and identities of the attackers would be established after investigation. Several teams have been formed and raids started in Hazaribag and Ramgarh districts, police said.The incident came to light in the morning after neighbours heard Sonali allegedly banging on the door with her feet. A local youth, Chhotu, climbed over the boundary wall and opened the gate. Residents freed Sonali and informed police.Sonali told investigators that Happy was sitting on a sofa in the front room and using his mobile phone at night when he asked her to open the main door. She then allegedly went to sleep in another room.Around 12.30am, two masked men allegedly entered, attacked Happy and dragged him into an inner room. When Sonali tried to intervene, they assaulted her, snatched her mangalsutra, removed other gold ornaments from a cupboard and tried to strangle her with a mobile phone cable. They allegedly tied her hands, legs and mouth before fleeing.Police were told by Sonali that Happy had received repeated phone calls over the previous two days and appeared worried. He had reportedly told her the calls were related to his work.Happy’s friend Arvind Saw said he reached the spot soon after getting information. “I saw the body in a pool of blood. The ornaments were scattered near the body. There is something that needs thorough investigation to reach the facts of this case,” he said.
