Retired Bureaucrat Arrest In Odisha Lensman Murder Opens A Can Of Worms; Check Call Record Analysis

Bhubaneswar: The death of cameraman Manas Swain took a shocking twist with the arrest of former Odisha Information Service officer Niranjan Sethi, who allegedly conspired with his former employer and web channel owner Sarmistha Rout in the abduction-murder case.

According to the call detail analysis, 60-year-old Sethi used to telephone Sarmistha 20-30 times a day after Swain went missing on February 7. The cameraman was in Ashram in Bhubaneswar for three hours on the day he was abducted. Inmates further said that Sethi used to frequently visit Ashram, police sources said.

Sethi, who had held key posts in the information and public relations (I&PR) department, was privy to all the plannings related to kidnapping as well as disposal of the body. He was allegedly present when Swain was forcible brought to the Ashram and beaten to death.

“Prima facie evidence suggests that Sethi was involved in the planning and execution of the murder. He was not present at the time of the abduction, but we have evidence that he was present at the time of the murder. Based on this evidence, he was arrested on Monday,” Bhadrak SP Charan Meena said.

Sethi is also believed to have facilitated the accreditation of Sarmistha’s vernacular daily on the last days of his tenure as Director (technical) of the I & PR Department and it was given an advertisement tariff higher than other periodicals, sources said.

Meanwhile, Bhadrak Additional SP Jatin Panda said that they may take Sethi on remand once Sarmistha, who is suspected to be the mastermind behind the murder, is arrested.

Also Read: HC Rejects Anticipatory Bail Plea Of ‘Mastermind’ Sarmistha Rout

Swain was reportedly in possession of some controversial videos and photos, which could have landed Sarmistha in trouble, and she was desperately trying to get the memory chip having some sensitive content related to some high profile people.

He had quit the web channel about three months ago following a fallout with Sharmitha.

Notably, the 28-year-old cameraman was allegedly kidnapped on February 7 when he had gone to Bhadrak to film a wedding function. His family lodged a missing complaint on February 14 when he didn’t return even days after the event and could not be traced.

On March 12, police arrested Bhagyadhar Nayak (26), Bibek Nayak (19) and Krushna Chandra Nayak (50) for allegdely kidnapping Swain. The interrogation revealed that the trio had killed Swain in Bhubaneswar and buried his body in Nayagarh district to destroy evidence. Based on the statements of the accused, police exhumed Swain’s body from Ranapur in Nayagarh the same day. They also confessed to have committed the crime at the behest of Sarmistha, police sources said.