After two days of search operation, the Police Commissionerate on Thursday arrested main accused of the triple murder case in Bharatpur area on the outskirts of the city on Tuesday.
A police team led by Bhubaneswar DCP Satyabrata Bhoi nabbed accused Shiva Prasad Panda alias Bhabani (28) from a jungle in Kantia gram panchayat of Jatni area in Khordha district. Bhabani later confessed before the police that he had killed couple Chakradhar Sahoo alias Kalia (65) and Sukanti Sahoo (48) of lane 4 in Bharatpur and Shantilata Pati (70) of the same slum on Tuesday afternoon.
Briefing reporters here, Twin City Commissioner of Police Dr RP Sharma said the accused had eloped with deceased Kalia’s granddaughter Sumi in 2009 and subsequently married her. After the marriage they were staying in Retanga under Tamando police limits on the outskirts of the city, he added.
During this period, Dr Sharma said, Bhabani had demanded to transfer leased land (600 sq ft) owned by Sumi’s grandfather to his name. But Sukanti, Kalia’s second wife (from 2011), strongly protested the accused’s proposal. On this issue Bhabani and Kalia’s family had been indulged in quarreling with each other for several times. In 2013, Sumi had committed suicide. In this connection a UD case had been registered in Mangalabag police station, he added.
The Commissioner of Police (CP) said Bhabani had gone to his grandmother Shantilata’s house on Monday afternoon, a day before the gruesome murder. He along with his granny had done marketing in the evening and then stayed with her in the house that night. On the very next day, Bhabani had altercation with Sukanti, an immediate neighbour of Shantilata. After a few minutes of argument, irate Bhabani attacked Sukanti with the back of a tangia (axe) on her head. When she fell down on the floor, he closed the door and returned to his granny’s house, he added.
Narrating the incident, the CP said Bhabani had also attacked his granny when she supported Sukanti. Similarly, he had closed the door of his granny’s house and waited for the arrival of Kalia. After an hour, Kalia had returned to his house after selling his vegetables in the nearby market. According to his plan, Bhabani had attacked Kalia with the same axe and fled the spot with the axe.
On the way to Kantia, Dr Sharma said, the accused had thrown away the axe at the roadside and hid somewhere in the jungle of Jatni area. After an hour of the incident, one Harekrushna Nayak had reported to the police about the murder incident. The Khandagiri police led by IIC Aseem Panda and ACP PK Swain reached the spot and had started investigating into the matter. Following some vital leads, three teams of the police started a manhunt to nab the culprit and finally arrested the accused with the help of the Jatni police, said the CP.
Dr Sharma said that property dispute between Bhabani and the deceased couple led to the murder. They haven’t received any evidence of involvement of more people in the murder, he added. On accused’s criminal antecedents, the CP said the police are verifying it. “The accused was a habitual drunkard and a drug addict,” he added.