Angul: Police in Odisha’s Angul district have cracked the 45-day-old murder of a 35-year-old woman in the Nalco quarters here with the arrest of a local plumber.
Though it is was initially suspected that the woman, Madhusmita Pradhan, was murdered during a loot attempt, subsequent investigation revealed that the accused, identified as Tapan Sahu of Barsingha village under Angul Sadar police limits, was obsessed with her and planned the murder after she spurned his advances.
According to police, the accused strangled Madhusmita with a scarf, leading to her death. She was the wife of Nalco employee Kartik Pradhan (40), who found her lying unconscious on the floor after entering the house through the back door, which was open, on December 1 last year. Her earrings and a gold locket were missing, while her mangalsutra was broken. He rushed his wife to the Nalco hospital where doctors declared her dead. The main door was found locked from inside when he returned home with his daughter from school in the afternoon and there was no response from his wife despite ringing the bell repeatedly.
Police further stated that Sahu staged the scene to resemble a burglary, looting gold ornaments from the house, in an attempt to mislead police. Earrings and mangalsutra were seized from his possession following his arrest, providing key evidence linking him to the crime.
Three dedicated police teams, supported by a special investigation team (SIT), tracked the suspect over the one-and-a-half-month period and apprehended him from his village.
