Sambalpur: Police have arrested two more persons for their alleged involvement in the murder of a 24-year-old beautician, whose body was recovered from Badarama forest in Jamankira in Odisha’s Sambalpur district on Saturday.
Those arrested, Ashok Kisan (30) and Subhit Makar (20), both residents of Tileimalti village in Sundargarh district, allegedly assisted the prime suspect, Dibya Lochan Pruseth alias Anil (27), a resident of Kundaposi village under Kuchinda police limits. They allegedly helped abduct and kill Sarita Sa (24) of Kusumi Mahulaguda village under Mahulapali police limits. Sarita, who worked at a beauty parlour on Ghusa Road in Kuchinda town, had been in a relationship with Anil for about two years.
According to police, Anil had promised to marry Sarita but later backed out. When she pressed for an early wedding, he allegedly decided to eliminate her. On Thursday evening, during Rath Yatra celebrations, Anil and his accomplices picked her up in an SUV from the Ghusa Road area. As they drove toward Jamankira, an argument erupted over the marriage issue. During the altercation, Anil allegedly strangled Sarita with her dupatta (or chunri).
The group stopped the vehicle near Badarama ghat, dumped her body in the adjoining forest, and fled the scene. Anil later discarded the dupatta about a kilometre away in an attempt to destroy evidence. Ashok Kisan was allegedly driving the vehicle at the time of the incident.
Sarita’s father, Manoj Sa, lodged a missing person complaint at Kuchinda police station on Friday after she failed to return home. Anil was detained following the complaint. During interrogation, he confessed to the crime and led police to the location, leading to the recovery of Sarita’s body from near the foothills of Badarama forest on Saturday. Police have also seized the vehicle allegedly used in the crime, Sarita’s dupatta, the prime accused’s mobile phone and other biological evidence from the spot.
Further investigation is underway, and the exact cause of death will be confirmed after postmortem and forensic reports are received, police added.
