Kin plotted the crime, say police
Police on Wednesday arrested one more person, who was absconding in connection with the brutal murder of Dr Durbadala Mishra, Additional District Medical Officer (ADMO) of the Subarnapur district Government hospital here on Sunday night.
The person was identified as Deepak Sahu. The police had arrested Ashok Sahu of Babupalli village on Tuesday and detained Pratyush alias Babul Panda of Bada Bazar of Sonepur town in connection with the murder.
Subarnapur SP Sara Sharma told reporter that interrogation of the accused and the detainee revealed that the murder plot was hatched by Pratyush Panda alias Bablu, a nephew of Dr Mishra.
Giving details about the sequence of the crime, the SP said Pradip Panda, staying at Bada Bazar, had taken his eight-month-old ailing baby Anshu to the Apollo Hospital in Bhubaneswar for treatment one and a half years ago, but the baby continued to remain ill. Then, Pradip, accompanied by his brother Pratyush, had taken the baby to Dr Mishra’s clinic for treatment.
According to a version, soon after Dr Mishra administered an injection, the baby’s hands and legs began swelling and he died after some time. This had angered Pratyush, and he vowed to take revenge on Dr Mishra.
On September 4, Pratyush met his friend Ashok Sahu and planned to murder Dr Mishra near a slaughter house at the weekly haat of the town. The duo later had a meeting with Dipak Sahu about the plan.
As per the plan, the trio followed Dr Mishra in the fateful night. When Dr Mishra reached close his house, the three accused overpowered him and slit open his throat while one of them hit his face with an axe.
Soon after committing the crime, Ashok fled towards Phulbani by a bike while Pratyush and Dipak fled towards Manamunda after crossing the Mahanadi.
The SP said, “As we came to know about the involvement of Pratyush in the crime during the preliminary investigation, we tracked his mobile and that helped us arrest Ashok after he arrived at Sonepur.”
She also said that Ashok, during interrogation, had informed the police that he was peeved at Dr Mishra for charging exorbitant amounts for the injections which were supplied free of cost to him by the medicine companies.
“The police have seized a pair of blood-stained slippers and the axe from Ashok and seven rounds of live cartridges from Pratyush’s house at Bada Bazar, the SP said and hoped the police would be able to prepare sufficient grounds to arrest Pratyush soon.