Berhampur: Police on Thursday arrested a supari killer in the high-profile kidnapping and murder of a 47-year-old realtor in Odisha’s Ganjam district, from Surat.
The accused, Surya Pratap, a native of Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh, had been on the run for about a week following the crime and was reportedly hiding in Surat. The arrest was carried out with close coordination between the Odisha Police and the Surat Crime Branch.
“One of the five accused involved in the kidnapping, who was hiding in Surat, was arrested and handed over to Gopalpur police,” R I Jadeja of Surat Crime Branch told the media.
This comes a day after the body of realtor Sudhir Patra (47) of Satyanarayanpur near Gopalpur, was recovered near Rashipankal under Sorada police limits, a week after his alleged kidnapping on the evening of April 15 while returning home on his motorcycle after playing volleyball. The incident occurred around 8 pm in the Dura Defence Colony area under Gopalpur police limits. His motorcycle was later found at the spot, following which his family filed a police complaint.
The night he was abducted, his family also received an anonymous call demanding Rs 2 crore in ransom for the realtor’s release. A video of him allegedly being beaten, kicked, assaulted with sticks, and shot in the hand, was also sent to the relatives. No further communication followed.
Addressing a presser, IG (southern range) Niti Shekhar said that family members were involved in the kidnapping-murder of the realtor. “Since family members were involved, it took police some time to arrest the accused,” he said.
Ganjam SP Suvendhu Patra revealed that the realtor’s niece and nephew Nibedita Patra and Tushar Patra were the main conspirators. “She harboured ill feelings towards him over some financial disputes between the families following the death of her father some months ago. The brother-sister suspected that their father died of witchcraft,” he said.
The deceased, a successful real estate businessman, had earlier been in a joint venture with his elder brother, Manoj Kumar Patra, who passes away in June 2025.
The SP further stated Nibedita had hatched a conspiracy with her boyfriend, Kalu Pradhan, to extort money from Sudhir, who they felt had betrayed them. “To execute the plan, Kalu contacted some people in Surat. While Surya Pratap has been apprehended, three to four others are absconding,” he said.
He along with Jitun Polai, Narayan Pradhan, Ashis Mahapatra, kidnapped the realtor in a Baloreo. “They had to shift to another vehicle as this one malfunctioned. They then took them to a temple at a remote place which they had recced earlier. The realtor was brutally assaulted there, and ransom calls were to his wife and brother-in-law,” he said.
“As Sudhir died due to aggressive beating, they fled the spot with the body and then disposed it of near Ketamani Hills,” the SP said, adding that subsequent investigation revealed that they had escaped to Chhattisgarh via Baliguda.
He added that nine persons have so far been arrested in connection with the kidnapping-murder. They were nabbed following technical surveillance, call data analysis and coordinated raids.
Besides Sudhir’s nephew, niece and her boyfriend, the SP identified others as Jitun Polai, who was keeping in touch with the criminals from Surat on a regular basis, Narayan Pradhan and Ashis Mahapatra of Buguda, who were involved in the kidnapping and the assault on the realtor, Balero driver Subham Nayak and Subham Gouda, who arranged the vehicles. “We have identified a few more accused and they will be nabbed soon,” he added.
Both vehicles, a country-made firearm and 14 mobile phones have been seized from them.
The SP said that the behavioural pattern of the sister-brother duo raised suspicion over their involvement in the case. “Though the sister-brother duo could justify their movement, they could not provide satisfactory explanation regarding some phone calls,” he said.