Raipur:
Nine women, including five children, were allegedly axed to death by a man in Chhattisgarh's tribal-dominated Balrampur district on Thursday.
"Pandu Nagesiya (35) has been arrested for killing four women and five girl children with an axe in Samri village under Samri Path police station limits of the district this afternoon," Balrampur SP G S Darro said.
"The reason which prompted Nagesiya to attack the villagers was being ascertained," he said.
According to eyewitnesses, the incident happened around 1.30 PM, when the women and children of two-three families assembled at a house after the menfolk went to work in a nearby mine.
Nagesiya suddenly attacked them with an axe killing nine of them, Darro said.
Meanwhile, Balrampur collector C R Prasanna said the district administration has announced a compensation of Rs 25,000 each to the families of the deceased