Police take Raju on 3-day remand

The Khordha District and Sessions Judge Court on Wednesday allowed the Commissionerate Police to take mastermind of contractor murder case, 

Rajendra Barik alias Raju, on a three-day remand for interrogation.Earlier on the day, the Commissionerate Police had urged the court to allow them to take Raju on a three-day remand.

Sources said the police would quiz Raju and his brother to know the motive of killing contractor Dillip Nayak near a construction site behind the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) at Patrapada under Khandagiri police station on June 18. The investigating officer (IO) would also ask the accused to know whereabouts of other associates and the person who had opened fire at the deceased.

Notably, a special team of the Commissionerate Police had arrested Barik from his relative’s house in Khandapada of Nayagarh district late on Monday night. 

Barik is in the Jharpada jail here after a local court rejected his bail plea on Tuesday.Meanwhile, the special team arrested a beauty parlour owner Pushpalata of Khandapada, who had given shelter to Raju.The police have launched a manhunt to nab the other 22 accused involved in the case. So far the police have arrested four persons involved in the murder case.