Murders That Shook The Conscience Of Odisha In 2021

Though 2021 was predominantly the year of COVID-19,  it had its share of positive takeaways and shocking incidents. If there was the Tokyo Olympics, which symbolised the spirit of humanity and all its virtues, hundreds were killed in explosions in Afghanistan throughout the year.

Odisha too witnessed some cases that were beyond rationality and human imagination. Besides being shocking and gory, those will be written in history as incidents that reflect the darkest side of human nature. Here is Odisha Bytes’ selected list of 2021’s most talked-about crimes:

Mamita Meher, Manish Anurag, Mahanga double murder, ACF death, Man kills wife and son, Jharaphula murder, Chittarnjan Palei murder

Mahanga Double Murder

The year started with a double murder, which later took a political colour, as BJP leader of Mahanga in Cuttack district and former block chairman Kulamani Baral and his associate Dibyasingha Baral were hacked to death on January 2.

The incident stirred a political storm as the opposition BJP alleged involvement of minister Pratap Jena in the incident and the ruling party leader continued to refute the allegation. While the police have arrested eight persons in the matter, the case is pending in the court.

College Student’s Murder

Towards the end of the month, the murder of a graduate student of Rama Devi Women’s University in Bhubaneswar, Jharaphula Nayak came as a shock to the people. What was further shocking was that her boyfriend had allegedly killed her in a hotel in Bhubaneswar and later, carried her body with his friend on a two-wheelers all the way to Kuakhia in Jajpur district where they threw it on the roadside.

Following the lead provided by CCTV camera which had captured the young girl’s body being carried, police identified the prime accused as Rakesh Swain of Sunderpada in Bhubaneswar and arrested him. His accomplice Shakti Swain was nabbed later.

Mysterious Death Of ACF

Hardly the state had recovered from two murders in January, came the news of the death of Assistant Conservator (ACF) of Forest Soumya Ranjan Mohapatra due to burn injuries at his official residence in Paralakhemundi in July.

The case took a bitter turn as ACF’s wife, Paralakhemundi DFO and a cook were embroiled in the crime following allegations of Soumya’s family members. After the investigation dragged on for a few months, the Crime Branch of Odisha Police concluded that the ACF sustained injuries while burning some papers and succumbed. No arrest has been made in the case till now.

Murder Of Journalist’s Son

As the year rolled, the capital city was rocked by the murder of a young son of senior journalist Navin Das in October. The victim, Manish Anurag, was found dead in a pond in Patrapada.

Police investigation revealed that Manish had a tussle with three of his friends in South City bar at Bhagabanpur under Tamando police station over payment of the bill.  As Manish died in the incident, his friends took the body and threw it into the pond. Later, the three friends were arrested.

Man Kills Wife And Son

In the same month, this case shook the fabric of marital life. A man, who had gone into deep depression after losing over Rs one crore in the stock market, strangulated his wife and 10-year-old son to death in Kalinganagar area in Bhubaneswar.

Following his murder, the man told the police that he killed his wife and son as he did not want them to suffer due to his loss. Though the people could empathise with his condition, they could not reconcile to the way he took the lives of his most loved ones in cold blood with a well-executed plan.

Mamita Meher Murder

The most sensational criminal case that infuriated the entire state during the year was the gruesome was a young schoolteacher of Kalahandi Mamita Meher was murdered and her body was disposed of.

The matter came to light after the family of Mamita, who was a teacher in Sunshine English Medium School at Mahaling, filed a missing case with police on October 8.

While the police initially arrested Govind Sahu, president of the school’s managing committee in connection with the case, he managed to escape from the police custody.  The case snowballed into a major issue as skeletons started tumbling from Sahu’s cupboard. It also entangled Minister of State for Home Dibya Shankar Mishra for his close link with Sahu.

As the state went on fire, the opposition parties rallied to claim Mishra’s silence on the floor of Assembly. A cornered government ordered Crime Branch probe.

After his arrest again, when Sahu reeled out the details of the crime executed by him, it sent a shockwave across the state and put a question mark on human conscience.

Sahu told the police that he had killed Mamita in his car and as per his plan, chopped her body into several parts, packed those in a gunny bag and took it to the school’s under-construction stadium. There, he dug up a ditch, threw the chopped body there, set fire to it and then buried the ditch.

While the police are yet yet to establish the motive of murder, it is speculated that Sahu was running a sex racket from the school and Mamita was aware of it. As she threatened to expose him, Sahu took her and tried to destroy the evidence.