A tribal youth allegedly killed his parents in a fit of rage following a family dispute in Basira village under the Champua police station in Odisha's Keonjhar district on Sunday morning, police said.

The police have arrested the accused and started an investigation. The deceased have been identified as Gora Munda, 65, and his wife Pali Munda, 60.

According to the police, the accused Dhyana Munda, 37, had a heated argument with his father over some family matter. As his father reprimanded him, Dhyana flew into a rage and attacked his father with a sharp weapon. The father died on the spot.

His 60-year-old mother, who rushed in to intervene and tried to calm down her son, was also attacked by Dhyana and sustained critical injuries. She was rushed to the hospital by the neighbours but was declared dead by doctors. "We had never expected that Dhyana would do such a thing. He is a mentally deranged and under treatment. But we don’t know what was the immediate provocation that led Dhyana to attack his parents,” said a local villager. Dhyana remained always upset after his wife deserted him. Dhyana has two kids.

Champua police said: “We have arrested the accused. We have sent the bodies for post-mortem. We are yet to ascertain what was the sudden provocation for Dhyana to take such an extreme step.”