Balasore: Notorious criminal Chinmaya Panda alias Papa was arrested from West Bengal by a team of Balasore police late on Saturday.
According to police sources, Papa was the prime accused in brutal murder of his rival gangster Sushant Das alias Khasua. Following the murder, he and his gang members went underground and were declared ‘absconders’ by Balasore SDJM court.
On June 22, 2016, Khasua was attacked and bludgeoned to death at Shobarampur area while he was on his way to mediate between groups of two villages under Sahadevkhunta police limits. A case was then lodged at Sahadebkhunta Police Station against Papa and 25 others under Section 148/16 of the IPC after Khasua’s wife accused Papa of the gruesome killing.
Police had nabbed 14 persons in this connection, but Papa and 11 others remained at large.
Police had later put up ‘wanted’ posters of Papa and circulated his pictures for easy identification.
Three years later, police was tipped off about his presence in the neighbouring state. He was nabbed following multiples raids, the sources added.