Nayagarh: Police Sunday registered a case against 10 people belonging to a political party following the murder of the husband of a Samiti member over a past political rivalry Saturday at Kestipada in Notar panchayat in this district.
They were identified as main accused local Sarpanch’s husband Basant Nayak, Basant Sitha, Prakash Parida, Sudhanshu Rout, Bhagban Dalbehera, Satyanand Nayak, Hena Rout and Parshu and two others, said IIC Manoj Kumar Satpathy.
They were booked under sections 302, 120 (B) and 34 of the Indian Penal Code. No one has been arrested in this connection. ‘The accused are absconding and we will arrest them soon,’ added Satapathy.
It may be noted here that Nakula Bantha alias Babuli (45), husband of Samiti member Pushpanjali Bantha of Kendudhipi panchayat under Sadar block was attacked Saturday and the miscreants gouged out his eyes. According to sources, the deceased had a long running dispute with Basant as the latter regularly demanded money for various works in the panchayat. Both belong to the same party but were hostile to each other.
The incident occurred when Babuli had come to Itamati to purchase provisions when the assailants hit his motorcycle at Kestipada and threw him off his bike. He ran for cover when they chased him down and hacked him to death. Later, they gouged out his eyes.
Tension ran high after locals laid his body on Nayagarh-Darpanarayanpur road and staged a road blockade. SP Manoranjan Mohanty accompanied by a police team and a forensic squad reached the spot and started an investigation.
Family members and the victim’s associates alleged that Basant Nayak, husband of Kendudhipi sarpanch Sailaja Nandini Nayak, was the mastermind of Nakula’s murder. Basant had warned to kill him, they said.
PNN
