Odisha Police Debunks Murder-For-Robbery Plot, Arrest Man For Killing Spouse

Jeypore: A 24-year-old inconsolable man, rolling on the ground unable to bear the loss of his wife, allegedly murdered during a robbery in Odisha’s Koraput district, turned out to be a poorly-written script to hoodwink police.

Mahendra Khora of Hariamunda village has been arrested for allegedly killing his wife Sabitri (21) along with two of his relatives Mahesh Mali and Somanath Mali, both aged 21 of Malikhudupi village, and trying to pass it off as a case of dacoity and murder.

According to sources, Mahendra took Sabitri to Nandapur town to link the latter’s Aadhaar with her mobile number for Subhadra Yojana. However, they did not return home till late on Monday evening. The following morning, Mahendra’s father Purba told Nandapur police that a few miscreants waylaid them near Hantaltota village chhak. As the couple fell from the bike, they tied Mahendra to a tree and robbed Sabitri of her ornaments before killing her and dumping the body near a bush.

Subsequent investigation, however, revealed that Mahendra had hatched an elaborate conspiracy to eliminate Sabitri over a domestic dispute. “Mahendra had hatched an elaborate plan to kill his wife around eight days ago. He and his two friends executed the murder plan on Monday night when the couple was returning from an Aadhaar Kendra at Nandapur. Mali initially struck the woman with a baton and she collapsed. Mahendra then beat his wife to death. She died on the spot,” Sunabeda SDPO Manabrata Satpathy told a presser on Tuesday.