Jamshedpur, May 20 (PTI) Five people were arrested on Tuesday in Jharkhand's East Singhbhum district for allegedly killing two women over suspicion that they practiced witchcraft, police said.

A complaint was lodged with the police by some people of Srimatdih Tola in Purulia village that the two women were kidnapped and murdered, SP (Rural) Risharbha Garg said.

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Five people were detained for questioning, and they broke down during interrogation, confessing to the crime, he said.

The bodies of the two women, identified as Pingla Purty and Choko Bodra -- both widows, were recovered from a ditch, he said.

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The accused told the police that a 10-year-old girl had died in the village on April 26, which led them to suspect that the two women had done black magic on her.

The girl's father hatched a conspiracy with the other accused persons and strangulated the two women on the evening of May 14, SP said.

After the murder, they dumped bodies in a ditch and buried them with soil and stones, he said.

Some more people are suspected to be involved in the crime, and a search is underway for them, the SP said.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)