Koksara: The police have cracked a case wherein a youth was killed over an alleged love affair in Aainli village of Kalahandi district Saturday. They arrested four persons six months after the incident.
The victim, Ganapati Majhi, son of Netra Majhi, was beaten to death by four persons over his affair with a minor girl October 6, 2017.
The arrested are Harish Chandra Naik, (47), and Bhabani Shankar Naik, (37), both uncles of the girl, Dasha Naik, (25), of Uchhula village and Rasika Majhi, (48), the leader of the Bhatara community of the village, Dharmagarh SDPO Surendra Nath Satpathy said at a press meet here Saturday.
While Harsih Chandra, Bhabani Shankar and Dasha beat Ganapati to death, Rasika tried to cover up and advised the victim’s father to cremate the body. They were produced in a court and remanded to Dharmagarh jail after the court rejected their bail pleas, Koksara police IIC Uttam Kumar Sahu said.
Satpathy said Ganapati was in love with the girl of the potter community. Her family asked them to end their relationship. However, they refused to listen and went ahead with their relationship. This enraged the girl’s family and they decided to get rid of Ganapati.
On the day of the murder, Ganapati was washing himself near a tube well after returning from Amapani Dusshera festival when the killers called him near their house. Unsuspecting, Ganapati went near them and the men overpowered him and beat him to death, police said.
Later, they hanged the body from a tree to make it appear as a suicide. His family saw the body hanging from the tree the next day.
Ganapati’s father Netra Majhi sought the advice of villagers when the Bhatara leader asked him not to make a fuss and cremate the body. He was doubtful over his son’s death but completed his last rites and later lodged a complaint at Koksara police station.
Police launched an investigation with the help of sniffer dogs and a forensic team November 16, 2017. They seized the remains and sent them for examination to a Bhubaneswar laboratory. Based on medical examination reports and the FIR, the police arrested the four persons.
PNN