Keonjhar: An additional block development officer (ABDO) of Bant block in Bhadrak district, who had been absconding after hacking his wife to death on October 2, was nabbed by Nandipada police on Saturday night.
According to sources, a special team was formed under Anandpur sub-divisional police officer (SDPO) Prashant Behera arrested the accused, Debi Prasad Jena, near Nasirpur village after he arrived in Jajpur from Puri by a train and was riding a bicycle home. “He was apprehended while going to his village to collect some items,” said the SDPO.
Following which, Jena’s medical examination was conducted at the Salania community health centre, where relatives of the accused tried to create an uproar but were controlled by police.
Investigation revealed Jena went to Uttar Pradesh and started living as a hermit in Vrindavan to hide his identity.
The ABDO had hacked his wife Sudeshna to death at his native village Danara under Nandipada police limits in Keonjhar. Sudeshna, who had been living with her parents for the last few years over some disputes, had moved back to her husband’s native place to take care of their school-going son. The couple got into a heated argument on October 2 afternoon over a fishing net when Jena was home for lunch, following which he attacked his wife with an axe in front of their daughter, who tried to intervene, and fled the spot. The villagers rushed a critically-injured Sudeshna to Salania community health centre. She was later shifted to Bhadrak district headquarters hospital as her condition deteriorated, but she was declared dead on arrival.
