A man, his son and the latter’s friend were attacked with acid near a Chhak named after a betel shop under the Town police limits of Phulbani on Thursday. The trio sustained severe burn injuries and their conditions were stated to be critical now.

Some locals overpowered the acid attacker and thrashed him, leaving him injured.

The victim man was identified as Chandra Mohanty, his son as Suraj Mohanty and Suraj’s friend as Rakesh Mishra. The acid attacker was identified as Pramod Sahu.

According to reports, Suraj and Rakesh were sitting on a motorcycle near the Chhak. Pramod reached there and threw acid at Suraj’s face that he had brought with him in a container. Rakesh was also injured in the incident. Chandra accidentally reached the spot and was acid-attacked by Pramod.

The four injured were admitted to the District Headquarters Hospital here and are undergoing treatment.

On being informed by locals, a team of Town police led by Phulbani SDPO Suprasanna Mallick reached the hospital and initiated a probe into the mishap.

“The exact reason behind the acid attack has not been ascertained yet. It is suspected that the incident was the fallout of past enmity. The accused was involved in a murder case and was recently released from jail. We will include his criminal antecedents into the purview of the probe,” the SDPO said.

Acid attack victim Suraj stated, “Pramod was previously selling contraband items to youngsters at a place near the Chhak, which I had opposed. Reacting to it, he threw acid on me.”