Bhubaneswar: The brutal murder of police ‘mitra’ (volunteer), Sahadeb Nayak (36), on Rasulgarh overbridge in Odisha capital has triggered a war of words between opposition BJD and the state government.
Addressing a presser on Thursday, BJD MLA Ananta Narayan Jena said that people in the state are feeling unsafe amid a string of crimes. “Sahadeb was brutally killed on the road. A few days ago, robbers gunned down two men while attempting to loot a jewellery store at Panikoili in Jajpur district,” he said.
Elaborating on the reason behind the fatal attack on Sahadeb, Jena said that he was a police ‘mitra’ and had recently informed police about the drug dealers. “The main accused gave supari (contract) to kill Sahadeb after being released from jail. Police was unable to protect its informer despite heavy deployment of forces across the city for Pravasi Bharatiya Divas. This incident will deter people from informing police about illegal activities in the city,” the BJD MLA alleged.
Stating that Sahadeb is survived by his wife and two daughter, Jena demanded that his call detail record should be made public. “How did the accused get to know that he had informed police about them? Who is behind this conspiracy hatched to kill him?” he asked, alleging that Odisha has surpassed Bihar in crime brutality.
He further stated that the case should be fast-tracked and the culprits punished at the earliest.
Jena also demanded a compensation of Rs 1 crore for the bereaved family. “We will be taking out a candlelight vigil this evening. If the ex-gratia amount is not paid within seven days, the BJD will hit streets in Bhubaneswar,” he added.
Bhubaneswar Mayor Sulochana Das also demanded a job for Sahadeb’s wife. “I feel ashamed to be the mayor of the city where a police informer was killed with such brutality when the city was under a thick security blanket. People are in a state of panic and questioning police for its inability to protect its informer,” she said.
Das added that there should be thorough investigation in the matter and the case should not be closed in a hurry.
Earlier speaking to the media, Law Minister Prithiviraj Harichandan dismissed the BJD’s accusations as unfounded and politically driven. “Law and order in the state had deteriorated under the previous government. While criminals evaded arrests during the previous dispensation, the current government has zero tolerance towards unlawful activities and offenders,” he said.
Meanwhile, police took the accused to an area beside the Daya River Bridge close to Dhauli where they had allegedly discarded the weapon, a machete, used in the murder.
Sahadeb was on his way to work after dropping off his daughter at school when the assailants on two motorcycles intercepted him on NH-16 near Rasulgarh over-bridge at around 8 am on Wednesday and bludgeoned his head with sharp weapons, almost decapitating him.
He worked as a sanitation supervisor with the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC).
Hours later, police arrested a couple – Lipika Nayak and her husband Laxmidhar – who allegedly planned the crime and executed it with help of two others. The third arrestee was identified as Rocky Nayak, while another is still at large. All the accused as well as Sahadeb lived in Kedarpalli slums of the city.
Police have attributed the fatal attack to past enmity while his wife alleged that he had received death threats for opposing drug peddlers in the locality.
