Odisha Court Awards Death Penalty To 5 In 2019 Former Block Chairman Murder Case

Keonjhar: The Anandapur Additional District and Sessions Judge in Odisha’s Keonjhar on Wednesday awarded death sentence to five persons in connection with the murder of former block chairman Ramchandra Behera in 2019.

Behera, who was the former chairman of Anandapur block and had unsuccessfully contested the 2004 Assembly polls from Ghasipura as an independent, was brutally murdered a day before he was supposed to meet Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik at his residence in Naveen Niwas, Bhubaneswar, along with hundreds of his supporters and join the BJD.

The miscreants had attacked him with sharp weapons near his house at Dhakotha village under Ghasipura Assembly segment and chopped off his lower and upper limbs around 10 pm on March 25, 2019. He was rushed to Anandpur hospital and died while being shifted to SCB Medical College and Hospital at Cuttack.

After examining 53 witnesses, 94 documents and 30 material objects, the court found Sanjay Prusty, Ajit Prusty, Arun Prusty, Alekh Prusty and Dola Boitei guilty of the murder and awarded them death penalty.

Another accused, Pramod Das, who was a minor, is under custody of Keonjhar Juvenile Justice Board.

“I had faith in the judiciary and finally, justice has been delivered,” deceased Ramchandra’s daughter told media after the court’s ruling.