Bhubaneswar: Police have begun grilling Asirbad Pradhan in the alleged revenge murder of a Plus II student in Odisha’s Khurda district after taking him on a two-day remand or custodial interrogation. The mobile phone of the deceased Ashutosh Mahapatra recovered from a well has also been sent to the State Forensic Sciences Laboratory to retrieve data.
Police recovered the mobile phone from the well at an under-construction house during the crime scene creation with the accused at Khamara Sahi on Friday. Ashutosh’s father was then called to identify the mobile phone. His father further alleged that Asirbad engaged in nefarious activities, including drug peddling, fresh trade and vehicle lifting.
Notably, the body of the 17-year-old boy was recovered from the well in Asirbad’s under-construction house at Dikhitpada village on Wednesday. The 25-year-old had pre-planned the murder, police said, adding that the Plus II second-year science student of Godavarish Mahavidyalaya used to reportedly blackmail him over his relationships with several women. He had some objectionable photos and videos of Asirbad with some women and demanded money from him while threatening to reveal his relationships.
Asirbad, an unemployed BSc graduate, invited Ashutosh to the under-construction house on Monday. He offered him alcohol and strangulated him to death using a rope when he was in an inebriated state. In an attempt to hoodwink his parent, he sent a message to Ashutosh’s father from an unknown number, seeking Rs 5 lakh ransom money to release his son. Following this, he lodged a complaint with Banpur police about his alleged abduction. Since Ashutosh was last seen with Asirbad, he was detained and later confessed to the crime.
“After strangling him to death, Ashribad dumped his body in the well. Revenge was the motive behind the murder. We are verifying whether Ashutosh was actually in possession of the objectionable videos,” sub-divisional police officer (Balugaon) Manas Ranjan Barik said.
Police are also investigating Ashribad’s suspected involvement in the murder of an unknown woman.
