Dhenkanal: Police have arrested a man in connection with the alleged murder of a youth, whose body with his hands and legs tied was recovered from a pond at Motanga village in Odisha’s Dhenkanal district.
The arrested has been identified as Sanjil Pradhan of Jambujodi village in Angul district.
According to police sources, the deceased, identified as Bikash Behera of Korada village in Angul district, was strangulated to death and the body tied to a stone was later thrown into the pond over his alleged affair with a minor girl of the same village. “The deceased was in a relationship with the niece of one of the accused. As he continued with the affair after being warned about it, they hatched a conspiracy to eliminate him. Bikash was kidnapped as per the plan and murdered,” said Angul Sub-Divisional Police Officer (SDPO) Ramakant Mahalik.
He added that efforts are on to nab the other accused in the case.
Sanjil and his associates reportedly abducted Bikas from near a water tank of his village around 8 pm on November 26 while he was speaking to someone on his mobile phone. They took him to a forest and strangled him to death using a rope. In an attempt to destroy evidence, they then took the body to Motanga village and dumped it in the pond.
Bikash’s family had lodged a complaint with Jharpada police about his disappearance, following which they registered a case and launched an investigation. Sanjil was arrested on Saturday and spelt the beans on the alleged conspiracy during interrogation.
Police have also seized the motorcycle and the rope used in the crime.
