Bhadrak: On the fourth day of Sarmistha Rout’s remand in connection with the murder of cameraman Manas Swain, the Crime Branch on Friday took her to the site from where Swain was kidnapped in Bhadrak district to recreate the scene.
The CB took Sarmistha, Jhunu Bhoi, Niranjan Sethi and Ranjan Nayak in two different vehicles to the spot from where Swain was allegedly kidnapped, recreate the crime scene.
Sarmistha was first taken to at Palaspur village under Chandbali police limits where she described what transpired between them and Manas. She was also taken to Dolamandap at Dadhimuhan ghata, the wedding venue where Manas went to shoot and from here he was later abducted.
From Bhadrak, the team brought Sarmistha to Dayal Ashram under Airfield police limits in Bhubaneswar where Manas was murdered. At the Ashram, the prime accused in the murder case is reported to have broken down while demonstrating the scene. She explained the way Manas was killed and where the weapons used in the crime, disposed of.
Dayal Ashram at Sundarpada in the capital city, is an old age home which was run by her. Manas was allegedly thrashed to death at the old age home.
From here she was taken to Badhipatna in Ranpur in Nayagarh district where they buried the body at an isolated housing plot area. She was taken to the spot where the body of Manas was retrieved from around 3 feet under the ground.
The spot is around 10 km to 12 km from Manas Swain’s village, stated reports.
Notably, Sarmistha, editor of Bhubaneswar-based web-channel Sampurna, and her associate were nabbed by a joint team of Bhadrak police and CB from Nalanga area in Bhadrak district on March 25 while they were travelling in a bus from Kolkata.
The duo reportedly travelled to Guwahati and Kolkata but soon had to spend nights at railway stations as they ran out of money. They were possibly apprehended while proceeding towards Chandbali with an intention to give themselves up before the court, sources said.
Notably, the case got a shocking twist with the arrest of Sethi, who is believed to be the co-conspirator in the case, on March 21.
The 28-year-old cameraman was allegedly beaten to death at an old age home in Bhubaneswar after being kidnapped from Bhadrak on February 7 and his body was disposed of in Nayagarh district. Police exhumed the body on March 12, more than a month after he disappeared, following the arrest of three kidnappers, who claimed to have committed the crime at the behest of Sarmistha.
Manas had worked as a cameraman with her web channel for about six months before quitting the job in January after a fall-out with her. The crime was reportedly committed over a memory chip containing objectionable video and photos that could have landed Sarmistha in trouble. Sethi allegedly monitored the entire crime.
