Siblings Nagaraj Shirasangi (13) and Akash Shirasangi (9) were allegedly killed for black magic near Shirkol village in Dharwad in northwest Karnataka. The two boys were allegedly kidnapped from the village and the police found their bodies hanging from a tree on Tuesday.

According to Dharwad SP Vamshikrishna, the boys went missing since September 26 from their village and their parents had lodged a complaint. The police could not trace the siblings all these days, but were horrified to find their bodies mutilated near Shirkol.

The incident led to a law and order situation in Navalgund taluk with the parents of the boys suspecting local black magic practitioners. The police are of the view that the two boys might have been killed elsewhere and brought to the village.