Bhubaneswar: The Commissionerate Police here have formed a special squad to nab the web channel owner at whose behest Manas Swain, a 28-year-old cameraman, was allegedly murdered in Bhubaneswar and the body later buried in Odisha’s Nayagarh district.
“A special squad has been formed to nab the absconding accused. We are extending all possible assistance to the Chandbali police,” said special squad ACP Sanjeev Satpathy.
Three days after the body of the cameraman was exhumed, police on Tuesday (March 15) claimed that Sarmistha Rout, owner of the web channel where he used to work, was behind his killing. Bhadrak district police have since been on the lookout for her.
This was revealed after police arrested three kidnappers, Bhagyadhar Nayak (26), Bebek Nayak (19) and Krushna Chandra Nayak (50), on March 12. They had confessed to having killed Swain in Bhubaneswar and later buried the body in Nayagarh district.
According to police, Swain was kidnapped while he was returning from Palaspur village under Chandbali police limits after a video shoot of a wedding on February 7. He was taken in a car to Bhubaneswar and kept hostage at an old age home (Dayal Ashram) under Airfield police limits run by Sarmistha. “He was brutally assaulted and killed at Dayal Ashram the same night. Later, the accused took his body to Ranapur area in Nayagarh and buried him to destroy evidence. They confessed to have committed the crime at the behest of Sarmistha, who is on the run,” additional superintendent of police (Bhadrak) Jatin Panda told TOI.
It is being suspected that Swain was in possession of some controversial videos and photos, which could have landed her in trouble. “She was desperately trying to get the CPU chip, which contained the photos and videos,” Panda added.
Police, however, are not sure whether she got the CPU chip from Swain before or after killing him.
