An unidentified group has brutally murdered one of the founding members of a private school in Sarlahi district.

Malik Mahato, 30, the founder as well as a teacher of Super Vision Boarding School of Dhungrekhola was hacked to death near his residence. Mahato, a resident of Barahathawa Municipality-5, was attacked with a sharp weapon. According to police, he sustained deep cuts in his neck due to the sharp weapon.

His body was recovered from an isolated area near the Soti River along Nayaroad-Barahathawa road section.

The body was lying face down with the head almost decapitated. Police recovered the body at around 4 am on Saturday. Family members said Malik left home at around 9 pm on Friday just before dinner after receiving a phone call from an unidentified person.

Malik had reportedly told his family to serve the food and that he would have dinner in a while before he went out of contact.

Superintendent of Police Poshraj Pokharel informed Republica that they have intensified investigation to identify the culprits involved in the murder. A trained dog has been brought from Hetauda for the investigation.

"We have reached close to finding the perpetrators," claimed SP Pokharel, adding, "We have been checking call details of all the suspects. We hope to bring the culprit behind the bars in the next two days."

The Provincial Police Office, Janakpur has deployed a team of crime investigation experts to find out more details about the heinous incident.

Family members and relatives of the victim have refused to claim the body until the perpetrators are brought behind the bars. However, they agreed to send the body to the district headquarters Malagawa for postmortem after SP Pokharel assured to conduct a fair investigation and arrest the ones involved as soon as possible.

Malik is survived by a wife and two sons. With the death of a breadwinner, the family members are heartbroken. He was the only son of Bilas Mahato.